Monday, January 21, 2013
Creating in the Library Article
Sooo.. I was planning on doing a follow-up to my last article with ways to get creative without getting crafty, but then I saw this article from Voya.com: Creating in the Library. Clearly, someone is connected with my wavelengths. Poor fools. Anyway, this article has a TON of websites rated with VOYA's great rating system (5 star system for Instructional, Readibility and Usability, with M = middle school, J = junior high, S = senior high and a/ya=Marketed toward adults but YA appropriate). There's a lot of wonderful resources here, some of which (Instructibles.com!) I am kicking myself for not including in my previous post. Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Awesome Resources for Getting Crafty With Teens
Interested in getting your Teens crafting? Not really sure where to start? What might interest this fickle age group? Here's a collection of some of my favorite resources for crafting/creating with teenager:
Blogs (Pulled right off my RSS feed!):
Make Zine: This is the home of all things Maker. A lot of the projects found here are pretty high tech and elaborate, but don't let that scare you. There's also plenty of simpler projects that can be used with teenagers. This is also a great place for inspiration: sure, that project looks crazy complicated, but there is often a way of simplifying!
Think Crafts!: This is the blog for an online craft supply store that does a really good job of NOT trying to sell you stuff with every post. I've found several interesting crafts here, and bonus -- Freebie Friday giveaways!
Dollar Store Crafts: I think the title here says it all: fun crafts, for cheap! I LOVE the dollar store, and often get ideas just by walking down the aisles! This blog collects some really great crafts that can be made with supplies found at a local dollar store (and often found right in your craft closet!)
Good Ideas From VT Public Libraries: I am always very excited when a new post from this blogshows up on my reader! Sure, it's a more general programming blog, but there are some really great ideas in here for all ages, teens included!
Tally's Treasury: "Funny" story -- I found this blog because the author is connected with an online sketch comedy group that I love! Anyone on Pinterest may have even seen her Monster Bookmarks!
Great Sites:
Cut Out and Keep: I have this blog on my reader, but I'll admit I don't always look through it, since SO many projects get posted each day! However, I keep it as a reminder for when I need some inspiration. Note: most of the posts are just finished projects, so you may need to search a bit to find the original instructions.
Pinterest: Have you heard of this Pinterest thing? It's awesome. Basically, Pinterest is a way of bookmarking sites through images and sharing them with friends. The first thing I did when I decided to start a Pinterest account was to go through the bookmarks on my home computer, laptop, and work computer. If you are doing any programming, I suggest that you join and see what is out there. I have a personal account and work on updating my library's Pinterest boards with activities, apps, books, etc. Here's some of my favorite teen projects that I've pinned and actually used
No-Sew Sock Crafts: Had a bunch of tweens and teens attend this program, and my favorite part was how different each project turned out. Pulling this one out again this summer!
Capri Sun Pouch Bag: There's a few projects here, but the bag went over AMAZINGLY. It was easy enough for a big group of teens, and it only took a month of nothing but Capri Sun at our programs, collecting from patrons, and a few hours of rinsing and drying pouches!
Glow-in-the-Dark Comet Ball: This is one of the easiest crafts I've ever made here, with great results. It's the perfect thing for a large group of tweens and teens.
There's my "secret" resources for crafting with teens! I do highly recommend both creating your own RSS feed reader (I use Google Reader--easy enough if you already use Gmail!) and joining Pinterest to keep on top of things. Happy Crafting!
~Monica
Blogs (Pulled right off my RSS feed!):
Make Zine: This is the home of all things Maker. A lot of the projects found here are pretty high tech and elaborate, but don't let that scare you. There's also plenty of simpler projects that can be used with teenagers. This is also a great place for inspiration: sure, that project looks crazy complicated, but there is often a way of simplifying!
Think Crafts!: This is the blog for an online craft supply store that does a really good job of NOT trying to sell you stuff with every post. I've found several interesting crafts here, and bonus -- Freebie Friday giveaways!
Dollar Store Crafts: I think the title here says it all: fun crafts, for cheap! I LOVE the dollar store, and often get ideas just by walking down the aisles! This blog collects some really great crafts that can be made with supplies found at a local dollar store (and often found right in your craft closet!)
Good Ideas From VT Public Libraries: I am always very excited when a new post from this blogshows up on my reader! Sure, it's a more general programming blog, but there are some really great ideas in here for all ages, teens included!
Tally's Treasury: "Funny" story -- I found this blog because the author is connected with an online sketch comedy group that I love! Anyone on Pinterest may have even seen her Monster Bookmarks!
Great Sites:
Cut Out and Keep: I have this blog on my reader, but I'll admit I don't always look through it, since SO many projects get posted each day! However, I keep it as a reminder for when I need some inspiration. Note: most of the posts are just finished projects, so you may need to search a bit to find the original instructions.
Pinterest: Have you heard of this Pinterest thing? It's awesome. Basically, Pinterest is a way of bookmarking sites through images and sharing them with friends. The first thing I did when I decided to start a Pinterest account was to go through the bookmarks on my home computer, laptop, and work computer. If you are doing any programming, I suggest that you join and see what is out there. I have a personal account and work on updating my library's Pinterest boards with activities, apps, books, etc. Here's some of my favorite teen projects that I've pinned and actually used
No-Sew Sock Crafts: Had a bunch of tweens and teens attend this program, and my favorite part was how different each project turned out. Pulling this one out again this summer!
Capri Sun Pouch Bag: There's a few projects here, but the bag went over AMAZINGLY. It was easy enough for a big group of teens, and it only took a month of nothing but Capri Sun at our programs, collecting from patrons, and a few hours of rinsing and drying pouches!
Glow-in-the-Dark Comet Ball: This is one of the easiest crafts I've ever made here, with great results. It's the perfect thing for a large group of tweens and teens.
There's my "secret" resources for crafting with teens! I do highly recommend both creating your own RSS feed reader (I use Google Reader--easy enough if you already use Gmail!) and joining Pinterest to keep on top of things. Happy Crafting!
~Monica
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)