Wild and Free Handcrafts: 32 Activities to Build Confidence, Creativity, and Skill

by Ainsley Arment

Overview

The companion to The Call of the Wild + Free: styled in the lush aesthetic of the Wild + Free brand, a four-color book offering crafts, activities, and essays, that parents, educators, and caregivers can use to inspire their children.

Wild + Free Handcrafts is a beautiful, four-color resource book for parents, educators, and caregivers to enjoy doing hands-on activities with kids. A handcraft engages one’s hands, requires a level of learned skill, encourages children to do their best work, and produces an end product that is useful. It has been used in homeschool settings for decades as one way to encourage them to work with their hands and discover a skillful craft they love to practice. It also is a great way for traditionally educated kids who are home for the summer, or in afterschool programs, or with their families on the weekends, to do fun activities that will stimulate their imaginations and creativity.

This book will feature crafts such as:

• Felted acorns

• Paper beads

• Nature wreaths

• Cocoa mint lip balm

• Woven willow hearts

• Finger knit bracelets

• Eco-dyed kitchen towels

• Fairy tale treehouse

• Flower crowns

• Bug hotel

 

With the same lush photography as The Call of the Wild + Free, this book includes step-by-step pictures that show parents how to do the craft, and essays on the usefulness and purpose of handcrafts as a tool to spark children’s curiosity and wonder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062916556
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Series:	Wild and Free Series
Edition description:	Supplement
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	1,078,575
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Ainsley Arment is the founder and leader of Wild + Free and co-host of the weekly Wild + Free Podcast. As she leads this movement of raising her kids and homeschooling in a new way, she thinks deeply about making the most out of life and ensuring that her children have a fertile seedbed for their own uniqueness and creativity. She and her husband Ben are raising their five kids, Wyatt, Dylan, Cody, Annie, and Millie, in Virginia Beach.

Table of Contents

For the Love of Handcrafts Ainsley Arment ix

Autumn

Felted Acorns Naomi Ovando 2

Branch Weaving DeAnna McCasland 6

Nature Treasure Music Wands Katrien van Deuren 9

Homemade Paper Lea Wu 13

Why We Do Handcrafts Rachel Kovac 17

Autumn Felt Embroidery Erika Yung 18

Dipping Leaves Zane Kathryne Schwaiger 21

Paper Bead Necklace Rachel Kovac 24

Nature Wreaths Nichole Holze 28

Winter

Cocoa Mint Lip Balm Rachel Kovac 34

Needle Felting Chickadees Lea Wu 38

Gnome Peg Dolls Naomi Ovando 41

Woven Willow Hearts Katrien van Deuren 44

The Storied History of Handcrafts in Education Ainsley Arment 48

Paper Star Erika Yung 50

Nature Cards Kristin Rogers 53

Finger Knit Bracelets Rachel Kovac 56

Stick Mobiles Katrien van Deuren 60

Spring

Nature Paintbrushes Rachael Alsbury 66

Egg Tempera Paint DeAnna McCasland 69

Eco-Dyed Kitchen Towels Leah Damon 72

Wet Felting Spring Animals Erika Yung 78

Stick Characters Katrien van Deuren 81

Handcraft Fairs Jennifer Naraki 85

Bug Hotel Katrien van Deuren 88

Handcrafted Bird Nests Leah Damon 92

Springtime Suncatchers Rachael Alsbury 96

Summer

Nature Treasure Wind Chimes Leah Damon 102

Nature Critters Kristin Rogers 105

Fairy-Tale Tree House Katrien van Deuren 108

Flower Crowns Carol Ann Sartell 112

Pottery Class Hannah Mayo 116

Calendula Salve Zane Kathryne Schwaiger 118

Wooden Blocks Rachel Kovac 122

Portable Flower Press Katrien van Deuren 126

Summer Starlight Lanterns Leah Damon 129

Resources and Materials 135

Contributors 137

About Wild + Free 142

Credits 143