20 of the best tips for keeping little hands occupied!

1. Firstly, invest in a mat to protect your surfaces (or use newspaper or oilcloth).
2. Collect empty margarine and ice cream tubs or yoghurt pots, then use them to keep the craft zone tidy.
3. Raid your cupboards for bubble wrap - children can transform these into shaker cards by adding a little glitter or beads and backing with card.
4. Visit the Tate website (http://kids.tate.org.uk/create/) for loads of arty children's projects.
5. Children love making rubbings.  Simply show them how to hold thin paper over a textured object and rub with a crayon (held sideways), then let them loose in the garden.
6. The children (and you) will love making pop-ups (https://www.robertsabuda.com/).
7. Protect clothes and make your own smocks from old grown-ups' shirts. Button them on to mini crafters back-to-front.  Or for super-keen children, Play Wear stock children's size aprons for as little as £4.50. (or make them an apron using an old shirt or skirt)
8. Check with your local art gallery or library for children's craft workshops.  
9. They can draw around their hand and then practice cutting out the shape.  Stock two together for a fab butterfly.
10. Let children stamp onto a card blank for quick colourful results.
11. Still stuck for ideas? Then try http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/ for free colouring pages and fun craft project to kick-start your children's card making.
12. Invest in a few stash basics like safety scissors and a set of easy-to-grip pencils. 
13. Capture their imagination with the amazing range of kids' craft supplies - or use your imagination with thinking of craft uses for everyday objects from around the house, such as an old (empty!) chocolate box.
14. Find easy projects to try at home at http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/.
15. How about making a scrapbook from their holidays activities, especially days out or trips to the beach.  Try the Creativity for Kids 'It's My Life' scrapbooking kit from http://www.crafts4kids.co.uk/.
16. Teens can get in on the action with a craft party or sleepover.  For some cool craft projects see: http://spoonful.com/create
17. For younger children, take a look at http://www.crayola.co.uk/ for lots of colouring in.
18. Look at The Kids Zone at http://www.prittworld.co.uk/en/prittworld.html for craft inspirations.  All projects are specially designed to only need basic materials and three or four simple steps to make.
19. Enter competitions.  There are often top craft prizes, and exciting monthly challenges plus an online children's art gallery at http://art.lookandlearn.com/.

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day, and my birthday, so what could we do?  For several months I'd been looking forward to a visit to the Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey as there's always plenty to see and encourage inspiration.  We looked at the current special feature,  The Blue Exhibition (http://www.crafts.org.uk/ see below) then enjoyed coffee and cake in their upstairs cafe, followed by a wander around the village.


Blue  a flow gallery touring exhibition
Saturday 10 March - Sunday 22 April 
The colour blue has had great importance throughout craft history being particularly significant to textiles and ceramics. Blueexplores the different ways current artists use the colour in their practice. The traditional uses of blue and white are the inspiration for some works, others refer to its roots and heritage in Europe as well as the Far East.  

The exhibitors were Felicity Aylieff, Paul Scott, Amanda Caines, Henk Wolvers, Caroline Slotte, Mia E Göransson, Louise Renae Anderson, Amy Jayne Hughes, Åsa Pärson, Fuku Fukumoto, Rebecca Wilson, Kaori Tatebayashi, Carol Cassidy, Kap-Sun Hwang, Fiona Rutherford, Elaine Wilson, Livia Marin.

BOOKS THAT INSPIRE

• "Andean Folk Knits" by Marcia Lewandowski
• "Aus alten Sachen Schönes machen" by Liisa Hellemaa-Hautamäki and Marjo Koivumäki
• "Beadwork" by Caroline Crabtree and Pam Stallebrass
• "Contemporary Knitting for Textile Artists" by Ruth Lee
• "Creative Felting" by Lizzie Houghton
• "Creative Recycling in Embroidery" by Val Holmes
• "Creative Spinning" by Alison Daykin and Jane Deane
• "Creative Weaving" by Sarah Howard and Elisabeth Kendrick
• "D.I.Y. Design it yourself" by Ellen Lupton/Maryland Institute College of Art
• "Eco Colour - botanical dyes for beautiful textiles" by India Flint
• "Embroidered Purses" by Linda Tudor
• "Everyday Sacred" by Sue Bender
• "Felt - handmade style" by India Flint and Toyoko Sugikawa
• "Filz Spiel - the felted play" by Annette Quentin-Stoll
• "Gesichter - Faces" by Sara Lechner
• "Handspun Revolution" by pluckyfluff/Lexi Boeger
• "Illustration.Play - Craving For The Extraordinary" by viction:workshop ltd.
• "In a Patchwork Garden" by Janet Bolton
• "Inka - Nordisch Stricken mit lateinamerikanischen Inspirationen" by Marianne Isager
• "Intertwined" by pluckyfluff/Lexi Boeger
• "KnitKnit - Profiles + Projects from Knitting's New Wave" by Sabrina Gschwandtner
• "Knitting in the Old Way" by Priscilla A.Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson
• "Natural Dyeing" by Jackie Crook
• "Painting With Stitches" by Sue Dove
• "rouge. Motifs de broderie traditionnelle et au point de croix" by Agnès Delage-Calvet a.o.
• "Spin Control" by Amy King
• "Spinning designer yarns" by Diane Varney
• "Spinning in the Old Way" by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts
• "Stitched Textile Collage" by Lucille Toumi
• "Textile Natur/Textile Nature" by Elsbeth Nusser-Lampe
• "The Art and Craft of Appliqué" by Juliet Bawden
• "The Art of Beadwork" by Valerie Hector
• "The New Crewel" by Katherine Shaughnessy
• "Verwurzelt fliegen" by Cambra Maria Skadé