Sometimes I need a little kick in the pants.
Especially when I know an activity with my kids will be a little more complicated than, say, reading a book out loud.
Even so, I'm always on the lookout for unique ways I can engage my kids in a cooperative family creative endeavor. Family creative time, even when it takes a bit of extra effort to convince my kids to come out of their rooms and try something new (sound familiar?) pays off tenfold with awesome memories.
When MarkyBox asked if I would like to try out their creative box I said "Yes, please!" because I knew I would never do this type of project without a little big kick in the pants. I also knew I could impress my kids with a bit of creative awesomeness.
I bet you can relate to that, my friends!
MarkyBox is a monthly subscription box full of creative goodness. Each box contains all the materials you need for a family creative project. The box we tried out was the June box which was a hand casting project designed to turn your kid into a mini Rodin.
Other recent projects in the subscription have included paper marbling and tin printing. MarkyBox's aim is to provide a wide variety of projects so you can expect to get something unique every month. They recommend their projects for ages 4 and up (always with adult supervision) but I would suggest that the most benefit will come for families who have at least one child over the age of 6.
Our creative box came with all the materials to make two hand casts.
All the MarkyBox kits do require adult supervision. MarkyBox wants families to create together!
MarkyBox is curated by artists and childhood education experts but all the materials are professional grade. I think that's awesome because kids get to move beyond their box of student-grade crayons and washable paints!
Once we got the Alginate mixed, my son stuck in his hand! What a fun sensory experience.
He left in his hand for 3-5 minutes. In order to distract him to keep his hand still, we had a lively conversation about his favorite topic: Star Wars. Score 1 for mom.
After he gently removed his hand, the Alginate had formed into a mold of his cute little hand. I mixed and poured in the Hydro-stone (basically plaster of paris).
After a few hours, we carefully removed the Alginate mold.....
The kit came with bronze paint so that we could make his hand look like a bronzed sculpture á la Rodin. The plaster hand sat unpainted on our counter for a few days before painting and we had a lot of conversations about how it looked a wee bit creepy! I think that was because of the position he held his hand in. Your kid could do a thumbs up, or an OK sign and that would probably look less creepy!
But after it was painted it looked better. I plan to attach it to a wood block to make a free standing sculpture for our creative room. I love that we didn't need any artistic skills to make something totally awesome!
What I loved about the MarkyBox project is that I would never, ever have done this without having everything I needed delivered right to me. I'm just being honest, here. But it was such a fun experience! My son still talks about his memories of sticking his hand in the mold.
And I will have a life-long hand to hold of my little guy!
You will like MarkyBox if:
- You want a little push to do creative projects as a family
- You have kids who like to experiment
- You like unique creative projects
- You hate trying to figure out "what to do next"
- You like the simplicity of having all your materials gathered together for you
*Note - as stated above, MarkyBox sent me a complimentary box.
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