The Usborne Big Book of Christmas Things to Make and Do - Usborne Activities

...as I am always on the look out for cards and other decorations. What's not made in the classroom can be practised by Little Miss ready for next year, and she loves it- all the glue and glitter and sequins.

~~THE BOOK~~

I do tend to like Usborne books as I find they have just the right amount of information, and are usually appealing to children, with the brightly coloured pictures.

This one is softback, ...
...won't be damaged with all the glue. I think it would almost be wipe clean, so no worries if the sequins get all over (attached to glue as happens with sequins)

Inside, the book is divided into chapters, with each double page spread being devoted to a particular craft activity.

the book launches straight into the "makes" without any lengthy preamble about how the book should be used, and we start on page 4-5 ... more

Another of my Christmas buys as I am always on the look out for cards and other decorations. What's not made in the classroom can be practised by Little Miss ready for next year, and she loves it- all the glue and glitter and sequins.

~~THE BOOK~~

I do tend to like Usborne books as I find they have just the right amount of information, and are usually appealing to children, with the brightly coloured pictures.

This one is softback, but seems as though it has some kind of protective covering over it...probably so that it can withstand an annual thumbing through it, and won't be damaged with all the glue. I think it would almost be wipe clean, so no worries if the sequins get all over (attached to glue as happens with sequins)

Inside, the book is divided into chapters, with each double page spread being devoted to a particular craft activity.

the book launches straight into the "makes" without any lengthy preamble about how the book should be used, and we start on page 4-5 with a fairy castle advent Calendar; i wish i had bought it earlier because this is something we would have had a go at making.This fitrst section has no title, but seems heavy on the angel and fairy makes, such as Holly Fairy collage, Snowflake fairies, Glittery fairy bookmark. not wanting to be too objectionable, but I didn't realise fairies were really part of the Christmas theme. we haven't let this worry us, though, because needless to say, little Miss is delighted with these activities and we have adapted a couple of the ideas for January birthday cards.

After the first section, we move onto the titled chapters: Christmas Decorations, Stickers, Christmas Cards and wrapping paper, Christmas Cooking. There is indeed something for everyone, and in the middle, there are a selection of handy stickers in gold red green and silver, featuring holly, snowmen, trees, stars, crowns, and other festive pictures.

The activities range from the very simple, for even the youngest children, with makes such as the Fingerprint Fat Robins, which make great cards and require only fingers a few black lines for the legs, and a bit of help. Another simple activity is the Christmas tree cards, which just need a potato for a bit of printing (cut out the shape for small person though!)

Some of the activities are quitecomplex and require some materials which I don't think you would normally have in the house. One of the things little miss was really eager to make were the snowflakes stuck to cds. it's very hard to suggest that perhaps we don't have enough old cds to make the kind of snow scene she had in mind.

The Christmas cooking section has some great ideas, and top of our list was the suggestion to decorate the Christmas cake with marzipan gift boxes. which looks really effective. Some of the ideas are really simple, such as making cup cakes and arranging them in a tree shape, but there are some, such as the shortbread, which I don't think we would do justice.

All in all, there are plenty of makes for all abilities, there being 128 pages in the book, so it really does cater for all tastes and ages.

~~OTHER BITS OF INFORMATION~~

ISBN: 0-7460-6940-5

RRP: £9.99 but check out book clubs.

There is another book, Christmas Activities, which runs alongside this, andmore aimed at very young children. Some of the activities are duplicated but if you have very young children, and want some ideas for quality crafts, it's worth looking at.

~~WHAT I THINK OF IT~~

I just bought this book this year, and already, I would say that we have had our money's worth out of it. The activities are almost certain to appeal to children of most ages, and many adults (like myself) will want to try their hand at some of them.

The pictures are beautifully illustrated and the finished crafts are immaculate. I actually made one of each thing i was going to make with children at school so that they saw my slap dash offering rather than the one in the book. Sometimes things can be just too perfect, and when a child's "make" turns out less than they imagined, they can get despondent. you know your child, though, and for Little Miss, I let her chose the activities and so she saw the pictures and thought hers were better anyway. Actually, i think she was so impressed with her own she had forgotten what they were supposed to look like.

We have made some great cards, and are even using the book and adapting it for birthday cards. The first section will really appeal, in a non Christmas way, to people who like fairies, so Little Miss loves it.

This is a highly recommended book, and one which I will continue to use not only each Christmas, but throughout the year.

thanks for reading

daniela xx

 

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