Simple Questions In Preparing For Your Kids’ Crafts (part 1)



Posted: Friday, July 27, 2007

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http://www.datuindesign.com

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

These are the first simple questions one should answer in preparing for any activity such as making Kids’ Crafts. As I often tell my design students in college, the amount of preparation one makes (input) is directly related to the rate of success in the end (output). So in this article, we would deal with these questions one by one hoping that you would find the right answers to what you plan to do. Remember that it is equally important to ask the right questions first before we set out doing any of the projects.

In asking “Who?", we are referring to the age group of the children involved. By knowing this, we would be able to tell the general skills that children of a particular age group normally have. Cutting and folding paper involving complex structures with intricate patterns naturally would be more difficult for younger children ages 8 or below. In addition to identifying the skills set of the kids, their familiarity with symbols and easily-recognizable characters would also have to be considered. An example of this would be Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters—they would appeal more to younger children but not to the ones who are already playing out the roles of Wolverine of the Xmen series or the Silversurfer from the latest Fantastic Four movie.

“What?" would have to be about the occasion or the theme of the activity. Is it an outdoor activity that would involve a lot of running around or be held by the swimming pool or beach? Making kids’ crafts that are waterproof would surely lengthen the time of use and enjoyment by the kids. Likewise, a “Little Mermaid" theme party would surely be more interesting when done by the water than indoor. “What?" could also be used to refer to the resources that would be needed in making your projects.

In asking the question “When?", we are actually referring to the timing of the event and the amount of time you have for preparation. Glow in the dark patterns would be more exciting and more effective at night, and making them during the day when the sun is shining bright might make appreciating the artwork harder because of less lighting contrast. Find out how much time would be involved considering the skills level of your participants. Another aspect of “timing" would be the appropriateness of the activity such as using “hot" characters such as Harry Potter while the movie is still very much being talked about. Although it could still be used as a theme for your next Christmas party just to have a different “look" apart from the usual Santa Claus motif and traditional red and green colors.

In the next article, we would discuss the other remaining questions “Where?", “Why?" and “How?". Meantime, you may start preparing to answer the first three questions posed at the start of this article, “Who?", “What?" and “When?". Remembering these simple questions would surely be as easy as when you are already doing your Kids’ Crafts projects!

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