The Little Hands Art Book/Exploring Arts & Crafts With 2-To 6-Year-Olds (Williamson Little Hands Series)

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Summary: Little Hands
Review: After being disappointed repeatedly by other books of this type, I was lucky enough to find this one. Nothing compares with it in terms of simplicity, creative fun, easy instructions, excellent illustrations, availability of materials at home, variety. My 3 and 4-year olds' favorite afternoon activity is to flip thru the pages and pick out a project - and they are always delighted by the results. My favorite gift to other mothers of preschoolers. Only one word of advise - the clay recipes are not the best - in particular the play dough one - but it's common enough to find elsewhere. If you're going to buy one book in this category, I couldn't recommend this one more.

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Summary: More Crafts than Art. found here.
Review: As an artist and parent who now teaches art to young children, I think this book has some cute craft ideas but is not the best introduction to art for children. I prefer Scribble Art by Mary Ann Kohl - it has a similar easy-to-read format with projects that can be adapted to almost any age, but Scribble Art involves more open-ended projects that allow for creativity and self-expression. Little Hands is more results oriented - for instance, if you want to make a quick turtle using a plastic bowl, this book will show you how. Many of projects involve a specific end result - a representational image of a pumpkin or porcupine. Granted, there are times for this; however, I prefer an approach to allows children to create their own subject matter, or explore freely within a given material or technique.

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Summary: Simple, realistic art projects for toddlers and preschoolers
Review: I have a three-year old daughter with whom I wanted to explore arts and crafts. I looked at many different arts and crafts books before choosing this one to buy. Many other books that I looked at had projects that had complicated instructions or used materials that were expensive. I needed a book that I could pull off the bookshelf, open up, and pick a suitable art project quickly. Little Hands has realistic projects- by that, I mean projects that are meaningful, uncomplicated, and use basic materials that you're likely to have around the house.

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Summary: WORTH EVERY PENNY !
Review: This book had everything I was looking for & more for my four year old. There are So many projects for different levels, with simple instructions. I was delighted to see some projects that I did long ago when I was a child, like paper dolls holding hands, paper snow flakes & sock puppets. The list goes on & on... :)

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Summary: Excellent book for daycare providers or at-home moms!
Review: This book not only provides awesome project ideas, but also shows how to make it simpler or more complex based on age AND provides other ideas and/or book suggestions to go along with the project. It takes a the idea of doing a project with your littles ones to a whole new level. An excellent source for daycare providers, stay-at-home moms, and home schoolers!

Rating:
Summary: Little Hands
Review: This is a very useful book for a parent who wants to work along her child. Activities are well explained and organized by supplies needed, so you won't have to browse through all the pages to find something appropriate for the supplies you have at home. Also, though not clearly stated, there are holiday activities. Older children, especially those younger than nine, will find this book useful. And, they should be able to follow thw instructions with very little help, if any.