Hands-on activities and crafts are one of the best and easiest ways to spend time together as a family. We recently had the opportunity to receive a copy of Made with Dad: From Wizards’ Wands to Japanese Dolls, Craft Projects to Build, Make, and Do with Your Kids. Get a peek inside the book and find out what we thought.
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My family loves books and crafts and family activities. Most craft books are written by moms or with the idea of moms doing crafts with kids. I was instantly intrigued when I saw this one was a book for dads, so I had to hand it over to my husband.
This book isn’t exclusively for dads, of course. Anyone who is looking for activities to do with the kids will enjoy it.
About Made with Dad
Made with Dad was written by Chris Barnardo, the blogger behind the Dad Can Do website. The paperback version includes just over 250 pages with 55 activities. (Yes, it’s a bit heavy!) The activities are intended for a parent to do with kids in the 7-14 age range. Each one lists the recommended age.
Activities are organized by categories, like Waves and Wheels (vehicles), Final Frontiers (space and sci-fi), and Advanced Models (that use batteries and such).
Each activity includes a supply list, the estimated time the activity should take, and step-by-step instructions. Most of the activities have several photos or illustrations to explain each step.
Some activities are best done using a template. To avoid tearing up the book, there is a link to download and print extra pages from your computer.
Making a dragon egg pendant
The activity in the book that we tried for this review was a dragon egg pendant in the Great Adventures chapter. As you can see, it turned out fantastic. The kids had a great time making theirs.
Dad’s review
This project:
The kids and I had a lot of fun making the dragon egg necklaces. They both thought they would be brave enough to do the hot glue part themselves, but I wound up doing it. Other than hot gluing, the kids were able to complete the craft with minimal adult assistance. That gave them that great sense of ‘I did it myself.’
The instructions were clear and easy to follow, however, there were a couple of modifications that we made.
The first was the use of vice grips to hold the I-hook while hot gluing, to avoid getting hot glue on our fingers. The second was to make a coat hook stand for the pendants to dry on between coats of paint. The stands were quickly created by bending the arms of a wire coat hook to allow them to freely stand. After holding the pendants while painting, we slipped them onto the stands so the pendant wasn’t lying on wet paint.
All in all, it was a fun craft to do and about an hour of focused fun with the kids.
The book:
The kids have a list of crafts for us to work through. (I think they have read the book multiple times). The book features a wide range of projects for a wide range of skill levels, so it is easy to find several things that you and your kids can do together.
The instructions for the crafts are clear and the illustrations are exceptionally helpful for explaining the process to kids.
In addition to the projects, there are several sections that give general advice on how to connect with your kids on a more general level as well. Overall, I felt like the book serves as a good reminder to make sure to set aside time to do something with your kids.
We have a night each week where we spend time together as a family, but I don’t always set aside a specific time each week to intentionally spend with each kid. I try to work in time to do projects, talk, or just play with each kid. Depending on the week it doesn’t always happen as often as I or they would like.
The best thing about the kids reading the book and coming up with a list of projects is that we now have a more intentional invitation to spend time with each other, which is really what we all want to begin with.
Buy Made with Dad
Made with Dad can be purchased at most bookstores, including online at:
Amazon.com | Bookshop.org | Barnes & Noble
What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:
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