The Best of Making Things: A Hand Book of Creative Discovery

by Ann Sayre Wiseman

Overview

Why go to the mall when you can make things at home using materials recycled from around the house?

This classic educational and creative text features 125 projects, carefully selected by the author to "develop natural curiosity and self-esteem," and to demonstrate "simple and important concepts that have shaped the cultures of the world."

So when a child asks, "What can I do?" you can reply, "Make things! Paper from laundry lint! A bird feeder from clothes hangers! Chocolate pudding finger paintings! Beautiful fish & potato prints! A cardboard box loom that teaches weaving and math! A simple pattern to sew shirts, pants, or dresses!"

The author's detailed and delightful drawings fill every page "so that children just starting out and grownups who have missed out can quickly grasp the ideas."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780967984612
Publisher:	Hand Print Press
Publication date:	09/15/2005
Edition description:	Combines books one and two, revised and updated
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 Years

About the Author

Ann Sayre Wiseman developed this book while Program Director of the Boston Children's Museum Visitor's Center. A therapist, teacher, mother, and grandmother, Ms. Wiseman has written more than a dozen books. She is also an artist with work in the Rockefeller and Hirschorn collections, among others.

Table of Contents

Credits and Thanks
Dear Beginners and Late Starters
Permissions
The Animal School:A Parable
Learning by Doing
Save Things for Making Things
1. Paper Lace Hangers
2. More Paper Lace Hangers
3. Star Balls
4. Paper Sculptures
5. Paper from Vegetable Fibers
6. Paper-Making Master Notes
7. Kiko's Seagull
8. Flapping Owl
9. Fold & Cut
10. 3-D Stand-up Scenes
11. Paper Beads
12. Paper Curls & Mobiles
13. Tissue Fish
14. Paper Glider
15. Paper Spinners
16. Paper Faces
17. Finger Puppets
18. Paper Bag Puppets
19. Corrugated Cut-away
20. Printing Fingers
21. Printing Vegetables
22. Printing Potatoes
23. Block Printing
24. Roller Printing
25. Fish Printing
26. Marbelized Paper
27. Smoke Paper
28. Bookmaking
29. Binding Signatures
30. Cloth Book Jackets
31. Butterfly Book
32. City Book
33. Clay Leaves
34. Pasta Beads & Paper Clips
35. Finger Painting
36. Crayon Activities
37. Marionettes
38. Slotted Animals
39. Climbing Pull Toys
40. Tin Lid Ornaments
41. Hammered Wire Jewelry
42. Balancing Toys
43. Mobiles
44. Balancing Shapes
45. Straw Mobile
46. Salt Pendulum
47. Bed Friends & Ummmm-Dears
48. Pillow Cozies
49. Mouse Pouch
50. Applique & Stitchery
51. Stitches
52. Rug Hooking
53. Portable Houses
54. Box Houses
55. Box Horses
56. Cardboard Racing Turtles
57. Stilts
58. The Wire Hanger
59. Camping Aids
60. Grass Hats, Mats, Sacks, and Soles for the Feet
61. Animation Motion
62. Zoetrope
63. Kites
64. Plastic Bag Sled Kite
65. Twisting
66. Rope Winding
67. Over & Under Weaving
68. Plastic Drinking Straw Belt Loom
69. The Heddle
70. Popsicle Stick Heddle Loom
71. Box & Stick Inkle Loom
72. Thrumming Loom
73. Weaving in Math Class
74. Weaving Patterns
75. Weed Weaving
76. Twining
77. Macrame Knots
78. Macrame Belt
79. Macrame Necklace Sampler
80. Love Pouch
81. Knots
82. Commando's Vest
83. Quick Clothes
84. Donut Blouse
85. Tie-Dye
86. Dyeing
87. Quick Batik
88. Stocking Masks
89. Braid Wig
90. Glove Finger Puppets
91. Odd Sock Puppets
92. Soap Mitten
93. Ivory Soap Boat
94. Soap Sculpture
95. Giant Bubbles
96. Go Fish
97. Xylophone
98. Sweet Sounds from Found Objects
99. Candle Casting
100. Candle Dipping
101. Energy Toys
102. Box Costumes
103. Box Sculptures
104. Window Shade Maps & Murals
105. Stained Glass Cookies
106. Bread Dough Sculptures
107. Peaceable Bread
108. Casting Plaster
109. Sand Casting
110. Plaster Scrimshaw
111. Plaster Carving Blocks
112. Connecting Things with Ideas
Questions
Solutions
The Making of Making Things
Art and Craft Books
Books on Ways of Learning
Index

Editorial Reviews

Fresh and inspiring. . . . The majority of the ingenious projects are not found in other craft books.—Library Journal, starred review

Consistently the most useful book I've used with kids . . .[it] has been, and still is, my bible.—CathyWilson, author, mother of nine homeschooled kids, and teacher of youth in custody

From the Publisher