My children love to get together a few Saturdays a year to spend the afternoon doing crafts. This is a lot of fun for children, who can use their imagination and creativity along with colorful and interesting items to build projects with their own hands. Unfortunately, it can also be messy and chaotic. And as the father involved in the project, he certainly comes with his fair share of problems. When kids don’t want to share resources, it can get really ugly.

One of my methods of getting around the sharing problem is to provide each of them with a complete craft kit of their own.

Each receives their own set of plastic storage containers, decorated by their own hand. I help them accept state ownership of the supplies (did the glue dry? Isn’t there any more tape?) because they each have their own plastic bins; So if the glue is dry or there are no more googly eyes in your package, there’s no one else to blame.

We try to keep several basics on hand and then experiment with a handful of other interesting supplies. Glue sticks, tubes of glitter, acrylic paints and brushes, pipe cleaners, construction paper, scissors, and markers are part of everyone’s kit. They then customize the remaining plastic storage bins with items that interest them, such as foam cutouts, princess stickers, beads, etc.

With all that glue and glitter, I was worried about our kitchen floor. I then took a large drop cloth to protect the finish and give them some leeway for mistakes.

I keep a few plastic storage bins filled, just with different items. A hot glue gun and glue sticks, dried flowers, and a vine wreath allowed me to get creative and make something beautiful for the front door.