Creative toys for girls ages 9 and up: Unlocking imagination promotes life balance

There is only one craft kit book!

Kiltz Shrink & Links Jewelry Set. We love this set! There are many craft sets, but there is only one craft kit BOOK!

This craft book contains several beautifully illustrated children’s pages with step-by-step instructions for each type of craft. The back of the book is approximately ½ inch thick and is a built-in storage area for all of the supplies that are included in the kit. How convenient that this book includes much of the equipment you need to bring your designs to life!

Difficult parts that challenge older children

You will need to help your child use the oven. Your child should use the oven under the supervision of a responsible adult. You will need some additional supplies like scissors and permanent felt and colored pencils (be careful not to use watercolor). Washable aqua supplies will melt and run in the heat and lift off the plastic.

washable supplies will melt and run in the heat and lift off the plastic

Faber-Castell colored pencils work best with Shrink and Links

We used my little artist’s fancy pencils: Faber-Castell, just a minimalist pack of 24 colors was enough for these art projects. Faber-Castells are professional grade artist pencils and provide vivid colors that work well with the Shrink and Link plastic set.

A craft game that offers endless variety

My kids loved this! The best part was that you can make jewelry, pendants, and even small picture frames. The book contains the necklace chain, “S” hooks, string, and other supplies you may need to decorate unique creations. There are enough supplies to redo. Hence, the storage space in the back of the book to keep your emerging artist organized!

This kit contains very small parts that may be harmful if swallowed. Therefore, this is not recommended for young children who still put things in their mouths.

After making the creations

The fun doesn’t stop just after you make the art. Your child can make photo frames to hold precious pictures or play with the little figures as the ‘S’ hooks provide moving parts. If you’re really creative, you could even attach strips of sticky magnets to turn them into fridge magnets.

My kids used this set during the pandemic shutdown and shared their creations as art projects with their teachers via Zoom!

I was amazed at the quality of this set and even more amazed at the bold colors and professional look the Faber-Castell pencils added to these works of art. I highly recommend this set to friends and family for personal use or gifts. Even better is that it can be used and shared more than once – there are plenty of supplies in the box for another day or for siblings to participate in.

My daughter used shrink and link to make a mermaid

My daughter used the Shrink and Link jewelry kit to make this mermaid charm. She used Faber-Castell pencils to achieve the bold, vibrant colors and make her creation stand out!

My daughter used the Shrink and Link jewelry kit to make this mermaid charm. She used Faber-Castell pencils to achieve the bold, vibrant colors and make her creation stand out!

Shrink and Link Ballerina

Here one of my daughters shows off the ballerina ornament she made. You can see the “Shrink” and see the size of the finished product to scale.
Here one of my daughters shows off the ballerina ornament she made. You can see the “Shrink” and see the size of the finished product to scale.

Why it is important to cut, color and detail

You may be wondering why a craft set is such an educational toy for older children. Don’t they color and draw easily when given supplies?

Yes, there is drawing and then there is creation!

Creating unlocks so much potential in each and every child. Our imagination and the ability to feel emotions are the only intuitive abilities that make us uniquely human.

Cutting and coloring work on gross and fine motor coordination and have more benefits than might seem obvious. While your child is focused on the fun, practicing using scissors to follow a defined line or shape, he is strengthening his fingers and hand muscles.

This ability translates into other daily tasks you never knew about! For example, opening a thermos when you are not there to help. The twisting action to open thermos flasks and jar lids is a practical example of how the gross and fine motor muscles of the hand work. Drawing and creating helps develop those practical skills.

The coordination of the muscles of the hands and eyes also facilitates a more orderly writing ability, since your skills are honed indirectly. If you think about your own children, I’m sure you can find examples of their writing as early as Kindergarten or Grade 1 and how it has changed to become much more readable by Grade 3, for example.

Let your child learn to STOP! Activate the Imagination and Relax

Children have the best imaginations too! Imagination tends to deteriorate as we age and take on more adult responsibilities and stresses. Imagination is an innate gift that all children should make the most of! Teachers have told me that in a 20-year career in education, children’s imaginations have never been more limited than they have been in recent years. You may ask, why is this happening? How could children have been more imaginative 20 years ago than they are now?

Although there could be many reasons, the most obvious speculations indicate much more screen time than ever before. Although it is fun and entertaining, it provides all the images easily, it does not passively encourage them.

In my opinion, children also tend to be busier than ever with extracurricular activities. Parents have a tight schedule for their children with sports, dance, languages, cultural/religious studies, and even extra tutoring happening outside of school hours. In addition to a full academic day, many primary school children are taken to 1-2 or 3 after-school activities, workshops or courses, and are expected to eat, bathe and sleep enough to start fresh the next day.

There seems to be increasing societal pressure to maximize academic achievement while simultaneously maximizing physical and social achievement without ever valuing a child’s ability to learn to STOP!

Learning to find balance is more important to us than overdoing everything. Letting children be children is important to us. We see no benefit in forcing a child to have the busy schedule of an adult. That kind of prioritization can come over time.

A child needs to learn what he finds fun. Without any pressure, they deserve to play freely, as a means of relaxing from a rigorous academic day in a busy class with lots of noise and distraction, while learning reading, writing, and math. For developing brains, this is quite a task!

Arts, crafts and creation give children an outlet to relieve stress and learn what makes them feel good, what makes them feel fun. Stimulate the brain’s reward pathways in a positive and healthy way.

This content reflects the personal views of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and belief and should not be substituted for unbiased facts or advice on legal, political, or personal matters.