Crafting Joy for Everyone: Selecting Crafts and Activities for Youth Library Programs 

Youth library programs play an important role in enriching young minds by providing a wide range of inclusive activities that promote learning and fun. Key components of these programs are the crafts and activities as they help children explore new ideas and express their creativity all in a warm, welcoming environment. Let’s take a look at some tips that will help you choose engaging crafts and activities for youth library programs. 

Consider the Age Range* 

When planning a program, one of the first steps is to identify your audience. Considering the age range of your audience will help inform the rest of your program planning. Programs for preschoolers (3-5) will look very different from programs for tweens (10-12). Taking into account your audience’s age will make the activity both fun and safe for all participants.  

• For preschoolers (3-5): Focus on simple, sensory activities that are easy to do with basic materials. Consider activities like finger painting, cutting and gluing shapes, stamping, and chalk art.  Activities that involve textures, colors, and shapes are perfect for this age group.  
• For older kids (6-9): Older children are ready for more intricate projects such as making slime, friendship bracelets, tissue-paper crafts, and building models with crafts sticks or toothpicks. These activities can be more structured, encouraging children to follow a set of instructions while also leaving room for creativity.
• For tweens (10-12): This age group enjoys more complex crafts. Sewing, block printing, canvas painting, jewelry making, and coding projects are a great way to get them engaged. As kids get older, offering crafts that allow them to express their individuality, such as custom T-shirt designs, button-making, or upcycling old items into something new can be a hit. 

Link the Craft with Learning Objectives 

The key to a great craft activity is to make it fun and educational at the same time. When you plan your crafts with a learning objective in mind, you’ll find that there’s a craft for most subjects.  

• STEM crafts: There are plenty of crafts that tie into science, technology, engineering, and math. Some examples include building a simple circuit with LEDs and batteries, making a volcano eruption with baking soda and vinegar, and creating a 3D hexagon out of marshmallows and toothpicks. These are all engaging ways to teach scientific concepts. 
• Historical and Cultural crafts: Introducing history through crafts can be a fun way to learn about different time periods and cultures. Kids could make mosaic art to learn about ancient Greece or paper pyramids to learn about ancient Egypt. They can also create Alebrije’s to explore the culture of Mexico or participate in Navajo weaving with yarn and a cardboard loom.
• Literacy: Crafts can also enhance literacy. For example, making an accordion book, a decoupage journal, or building a diorama of a scene from a favorite book are all fun and engaging ways to connect crafts with literacy.  

Plan for a Range of Skill Levels 

Keep in mind that your participants will come with varying levels of skill. In that case, it’s best to offer crafts that have a range of complexity within the activity. Let’s say, for example, you are preparing a greeting card-making craft activity. The following are some examples of offering a range of options within that same program and making it inclusive for everyone: 

• Simple options: Using coloring pages, stickers, and stamps. 
• Intermediate options: Embellishing cards with jewel stickers, glitter glue, googly eyes, and paper cut-out shapes.
• Advanced options: Creating cards with different 3D pop-up elements or incorporating thread art.  

Emphasize Creativity and Self Expression 

One of the most important aspects of craft activities is the opportunity for children to express themselves. Many crafts are product-based, where participants follow a specific set of instructions to complete it and may even have a model or example to imitate. While the “product art” approach is popular, I would suggest also giving “process art” a try instead. Process art is the opposite of product art. The goal here is to express thoughts and feelings by exploring colors, shapes, textures. It doesn’t have to “look” a certain way. In this space we want to encourage creativity, self-expression, and build confidence.  

• Decoupage mason jar lanterns with tissue paper 
• Popsicle stick photo frames  
• Marble painting 
• Greeting cards
• Pet rocks

Make Sure Materials are Available and Affordable 

When planning materials for crafts, find items that are easy to obtain and affordable, especially if you are planning to run the program on a budget. Common materials like construction paper, scissors, glue, yarn, stickers, and markers are basics in most craft projects and are typically inexpensive.  

If you’d like to promote sustainability in your craft programs, look for upcycled items that can be used as craft supplies such as paper towel rolls, corks, egg cartons, shoe boxes, cereal boxes, fabric scraps, and old t-shirts. Turning these items into something new is half the fun!

Incorporate Seasonal or Themed Crafts 

Aligning your craft programs with seasons or cultural events is an excellent way to build excitement leading up to your program. It is a great way to make the activity timely and fun. Some examples include: 

• Spring: Flower crowns, pressed flowers, or coffee filter flowers.  
• Autumn:  Leaf rubbings, pumpkin mason jar lanterns, or fall wreaths. 
• Winter: Snowflake decorations, DIY snow globes, or snowman finger painting. 
• Lunar New Year: Paper lanterns or dragon paper-bag puppets.  
• Black History Month: Alma Thomas style abstract art or Mae Jemison paper towel rockets.
• Earth Day: Popsicle stick flower pots or layers of the earth with playdough. 

Go Forth and Create! 

Selecting crafts and activities for youth library programs requires a blend of creativity, planning, and consideration of the needs and interests of the participants. The goal is to create a library space where children can express their creativity, explore new skills, and maybe even develop a new passion! By focusing on age-appropriate projects and promoting self-expression in a welcoming space, you can create programs that are both fun and enriching for all children.  

*Note: The age ranges in this blogpost are an approximation based on my past experiences planning craft programming for youth. 

Alicia Hulten is a Library Program Coordinator for Staff Development & Customer Experience at Palo Alto City Public Library in Palo Alto, California and previously served as a Senior Youth Services Librarian for the same organization. She currently serves on the Library Service to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers committee. 

The post Crafting Joy for Everyone: Selecting Crafts and Activities for Youth Library Programs  appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 Youth library programs play an important role in enriching young minds by providing a wide range of inclusive activities that promote learning and fun. Key components of these programs are the crafts and activities as they help children explore new ideas and express their creativity all in a warm, welcoming environment. Let’s take a look at some tips that will help you choose engaging crafts and activities for youth library programs.  Consider the Age Range*  When planning a program, one of the first steps is to identify your audience. Considering the age range of your audience will help inform the rest of your program planning. Programs for preschoolers (3-5) will look very different from programs for tweens (10-12). Taking into account your audience’s age will make the activity both fun and safe for all participants.   Link the Craft with Learning Objectives  The key to a great craft activity is to…
The post Crafting Joy for Everyone: Selecting Crafts and Activities for Youth Library Programs  appeared first on ALSC Blog.  Read More

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