Craft Book Review - Fairytale Things to Make and Do

Fairytale Things to Make and Do by Leonie Pratt has lots of cute ideas for crafts but some people (like me who likes crafts but doesn't always have the artistic ability to back it up) might find some of the projects difficult to reproduce.

Amazon lists the book as being for 4-8 year olds, but they will need adult supervision and, in many cases, help because scissors and glue are essential to a majority of the crafts.

An adult can help three and four year olds with some of the projects, such as:

•  "Rapunzel in the tower," which requires cutting paper and fastening it into a tube to make the tower, creating a cone roof  and decorating the tower; you can skip making the trees if you're not feeling ambitious
• "Cinderella's sparkly slipper" has you draw a slipper (no template provided so you have to find something to trace or be good at drawing a big shoe) and decorate it with glitter and tissue paper; a great introductory craft
• "Magic Fairytale wands" - they're made of cardboard so they might not last long but they're pretty easy to make and you can keep it simple for the younger kids

Other projects require more artistic abilities, patience and adult help:

• "Trolls and Ogres" and "Fairytale Wedding" both have you drawing the figures and then coloring them in. They do offer step-by-step diagrams for drawing the princess and prince for Fairytale wedding but this is certainly beyond the skill of a preschooler, who might get frustrated that they can't copy what the books shows. Frankly, drawing it was beyond my skills. This kind of craft would be more accessible if a template was provided; you might be able to "cheat" by finding something online
• "Gingerbread House Collage" is listed here because the finished project  takes more skill; however, you can assist your younger child in making a simpler Gingerbread house and skip or substitute the decorations
• "Fairytale Wall Hanging" is something Martha Stewart would be proud of. It's included as requiring a little more supervision because there is a lot of paper cutting and the child has to cross-weave the paper to make a quilt. It won't be hard for an older child and a parent could help a young one.

All in all the book has some really cute ideas for a variety of skill levels that will make for some magical afternoons. If your drawing ability is equivalent to a preschooler's, as mine is, you'll probably want to skip some projects or let your artsy older child take the lead.