Image: sxc.hu

*One lady bought all the buttons my daughter had decided she could part with.  She told me she decorated clothing with them.  At a previous yard sale, a customer said she made Christmas stockings for sale and decorated them with buttons.

*A young man purchased a box of used crayons.  I asked if he had children who enjoyed coloring.

“No,” he replied.  “They’re for me.  I have some coloring book pages and am going to color them to make wrapping paper.”

*Another customer purchased a number of my daughter’s quilting and craft magazines.  I asked what type of crafts she did.

“My children and I are going to cut pictures from these and make collages.”  I remembered doing this when my grandchildren were small.  It makes a nice rainy day project and we’ve been having many summer rainy days this year.

*One lady was excited with the baggie filled with scrapbooking supplies my daughter decided she didn’t use.  Since some of the items were new to her, she asked for ideas on how to use them.

What kinds of crafty ideas do you come up with using your yard sale “finds?”

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“Found” Craft Materials at Yard Sales

I’ve also found this a great way to encourage children’s fine muscle coordination.  As I’ve substituted in kindergarten this year, and followed the youngsters throughout the school year, I’ve seen a great improvement in their ability to stay within the lines, even with small pictures.

Coloring is more than simply busy work. It’s a way to develop children’s coordination, a form of rehab after accidents and strokes, keeps arthritic fingers active, and often leads to a hobby in some form of art.  With Alzheimer’s patients, it helps keep their minds and fingers active.

There’s an interesting article, Coloring Pictures Is a Lot More Than Just Fun, at Better Parenting that explains the benefits of coloring for your youngsters…for learning and for fun.  I’ve even sat down with youngsters and colored, trying out various drawing/coloring items and materials.

It can become a grand experience in artistic discovery as well as muscle development and coordination.

How have you used coloring and art in your family or at school?

(Amazon image)

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Do Your Youngsters Like to Color & Draw?

I can’t remember how many coloring books I went through as a kid, but it has to be zillions of them. Lucky for you, you can find tons of them online to be printed out as you need them. And Crayola has plenty of them to choose from!

And here is something different, Crayola even has a machine that helps you create your own crayons. Now how cool is that??

Crayola

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Crayola to the Rescue

**And you have to admit, it is a whole lot easier cleaning a chalkboard than washing down a wall!!

Chalkboard Paint Tips

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Chalkboard Paint Tips

I would start saving now, because their wish list gets more expensive by the year! For some reason crayons and coloring books just don’t satisfy them anymore?? Actually, I think I need a couple more jobs! But there is a good side to all of this lol… your gifts get a lot more expensive too! No more broken gray candles… as sweet as they once were!

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Christmas in July