Tag: Art

Crafts for Seniors: 5 Reasons Why it’s Essential for Seniors + Ideas!

Let’s be honest, we’re all kids at heart, and crafts for seniors are just as important as crafts for kids! Crafting is a timeless activity that brings joy, creativity, and a sense of accomplishment to people of all ages. For seniors, engaging in crafts can offer numerous physical, mental, and emotional benefits. Take a look to explore some of the main reasons why crafting is essential for seniors. At Roylco, we believe in the power of creativity to enhance lives, and our products are designed to be accessible, fun, and beneficial for everyone, including seniors. Here’s why crafting is great for seniors and how Roylco products can make their crafting experience even more enriching.

Benefits of Crafts for Seniors

Improved Cognitive Function: Engaging in crafts helps keep the mind sharp. Activities like painting, knitting, or assembling puzzles can enhance memory, problem-solving skills, and concentration. Regular crafting can stimulate the brain, which is crucial for maintaining cognitive health in seniors.

Enhanced Motor Skills: Crafting often involves fine motor skills, which can help seniors maintain hand-eye coordination and dexterity. This is particularly important for seniors with arthritis or other conditions that affect their hands.

Emotional Well-being: Crafting is a wonderful way to reduce stress and anxiety. It promotes relaxation and can provide a sense of purpose. The act of creating something beautiful can boost self-esteem and give a sense of accomplishment.

Social Engagement: Crafting can be a social activity, offering opportunities for seniors to connect with others. Whether in a group setting or a shared hobby, it can help combat loneliness and foster a sense of community.

Creative Expression: Art and craft provide a medium for seniors to express themselves creatively. This can be particularly meaningful for those who find it challenging to communicate verbally.

With these benefits, who could say no? It’s clear that engaging in crafts as a regular practice can greatly increase quality of life for seniors. Now, check out our list of craft recommendations below that keep everyone feeling young.

Craft Ideas For Seniors Using Roylco Products:

Rubbing Plates

Our textured rubbing plates are excellent for creating unique art pieces. Seniors can place a sheet of paper over the plates and rub with crayons or pencils to reveal intricate designs. This activity is both fun and therapeutic, stimulating tactile senses and creativity.

Rubbing Plate Bookmarks:

Cut the cardstock into bookmark-sized pieces (2×6 inches) for the residents. Place a piece of cardstock over a Rubbing Plate. Use the side of a crayon to rub over the paper, revealing the textured design. Experiment with different textures and patterns to create a unique design on each bookmark. Decorate with buttons, sequins, or stickers.

Materials Needed:

  1. A Roylco Rubbing Plate
  2. Cardstock Paper
  3. Crayons (with paper removed)
  4. Scissors
  5. Hole Punch
  6. Ribbon or Yarn
Explore Rubbing Plates

Stencils & Color Diffusing Paper

Stencils are a great way to improve dexterity and fine motor skills while having creative fun! Seniors can make simple or more intricate designs as they follow along the inside of the stencil.

Blots of Snowflake Ornaments

Grab a piece of Roylco’s Blotting Paper and your favorite Roylco Super Snowflake Stencil. Lay the stencil on top of the paper & tape the stencil to the paper to ensure it doesn’t move.

Trace over the stencil with a marker and color in your outlined snowflake with a combination of washable markers and spray with water. Watch as the colors merge together!

Once dry, cut out the outlined snowflake and punch a hole in the top. Add a piece of ribbon and hang it on a Christmas tree, the ceiling, or wherever you’d like!

Materials Needed:

  1. Blotting Paper
  2. Snowflake Stencils
  3. Scissors
  4. Hole Punch
  5. Ribbon or Yarn
  6. Spray Bottle
  7. Another Option for Paper: Color Diffusing Paper

Scissor Skills Paper

One of our new products, Scissor Skills Haircut Paper, is a great way to help seniors hone in on their fine motor skills, practice coordination, and improve their dexterity.

Scissor Skill Haircuts

Choose a fun character from the pack and grab a pair of scissors. Follow along with the dotted lines and make your cuts. Each piece should look like a strand of hair. Once cut, fold the pieces back and fourth to create a hairstyle for your character. Grab a marker and add a fun face to complete your look!

Materials Needed:

  1. Scissor Skills Paper
  2. Scissors
  3. Marker

Tips for Senior Crafting:

  • Comfort and Safety: Ensure a comfortable crafting environment with good lighting and seating. Use tools that are easy to grip and handle.
  • Simplify Projects: Choose projects that match the senior’s skill level. Simple, repetitive tasks can be both satisfying and achievable.
  • Encourage Social Interaction: Crafting in groups can make the experience more enjoyable and help build connections.
  • Celebrate Creativity: Focus on the joy of creation rather than perfection. Encourage experimentation and personal expression.

Crafting can be a delightful and therapeutic activity for seniors, offering numerous benefits for their mental, physical, and emotional well-being. With Roylco’s range of accessible and enjoyable crafting products, seniors can unlock their creativity and experience the joy of making something beautiful.

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Growth Mindset Lesson Plan

You might be wondering what a growth mindset is, so let’s start by defining it. A growth mindset is the believe that we can improve our abilities through effort, practice, and learning from mistakes. The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset which is the believe that our abilities are set in stone.

So why is having a growth mindset important?

Having a growth mindset is vital to development because it allows us to view challenges as a growing opportunity, rather than as an unclimbable mountain. When we approach issues with a growth mindset, we are more likely to achieve goals and try new things that may be difficult or unfamiliar to us. These situations help foster perseverance, problem-solving skills, and a stronger work ethic.

A growth mindset is something that is learned, and therefore, must first be taught. Teaching children this practice from a young age is a great way to help them navigate the coming challenges in their lives, and will also help them to better resolve social issues. Take a look at a few of our products we recommend for exploring growth mindsets.

Roylco Laminated Speech Bubbles:

Our Laminated Speech Bubbles allow children to write how they think someone would respond to a certain situation with a growth mindset vs. with a fixed mindset. This is a great tool to visually show kids how having a fixed mindset often leads to more frustration and limitations, while having a growth mindset leads to greater positivity and success.

Roylco Stand-Up Self Portraits:

Using the Stand-Up Self Portraits, children are able to express what they imagine someone with a fixed mindset looking like (facial expression, what they would say, etc.) and someone with a growth mindset. This allows parents and teachers the opportunity to ask children questions of why they think someone with that specific mindset would think and feel that way, which leads to greater conversation of the benefits of having a growth mindset.

See the Growth Mindset Lesson Plan for greater detail on how to most effectively utilize these tools, Laminated Speech Bubbles and Stand-Up Self Portraits, as a method of teaching young learners the importance of adopting a growth mindset.

We hope you too see the importance of both adults and children putting into practice a growth mindset. It is never too early to learn to effectively overcome challenges and expand your mind to the possibilities in front of you!

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    5 Reasons Why Arts & Crafts Are Crucial For Early Development

    Dinosaurs and unicorns are alive. Superheroes and insects work together to fight evil. Yep, you heard that right! Welcome to the world of arts and crafts – a magical world where children can put on their capes of creativity and curiosity, unlocking the secrets of their own potential. Arts and Crafts are the forefront of development and growth in young children. From open-ended creative expression to cognitive enhancement, arts and crafts truly impact young minds more than we might expect. Let’s explore five benefits that arts and crafts unlock.

    Fine Motor Skill Development

    Painting, drawing, cutting, and pasting may seem like simple, mundane activities, but they play a crucial role in developing fine motor skills. These activities require precise movements and coordination, which help children refine their hand-eye coordination and dexterity. As they work with various art mediums, they strengthen their muscles in their hands and fingers, laying the groundwork for future tasks like writing. Take a look at one of our new products that aids fine motor skill development in a big way:

    View Scissor Skill Hair Paper

    Imagination and Creativity

    One of the most significant benefits of arts and crafts learning is gaining the ability to ignite and nurture imagination from a creative point of view. Whether it’s molding clay into mythical creatures or using craft sticks to tell stories of ancient kings and queens, crafts encourage children to think out of the box and explore their creative abilities. This freedom sets children on a trajectory for future success in creative roles and professions. Here is our recommendation for products that enhance imagination and creativity:

    View Super Hero Masks

    Cognitive Development

    Engaging in arts and crafts activities stimulates various cognitive functions in children. As children explore possibilities through color, they engage in a wide range of cognitive processes from selecting hues to blending shades to recalling memories evoked by colors. These cognitive processes are not limited to the realm of colors alone; they extend to activities like building structures with blocks or piecing together puzzles, where children combine spatial reasoning and critical thinking together to bring their ideas to life. Through these immersive experiences, children not only develop their artistic abilities but also strengthen essential cognitive functions, laying a solid foundation for lifelong learning and growth.

    View Butterfly Ornaments Kit
    View Tubes & Connectors

     Expression and Communication

    Not only do arts and crafts provide children with freedom of creative expression, but they also provide a non-verbal outlet through self-expression. By exploring colors, shapes, and textures, they can convert their feelings, thoughts, and experiences into expressions. This form of artistic expression is especially beneficial for those who may find it hard to communicate their feelings verbally. By engaging in creative activities, children learn to express themselves in alternative ways, fostering emotional intelligence and communication skills. Art can also serve as a calming and therapeutic activity, helping children manage stress and anxiety. The process of creating art allows them to channel their feelings constructively and develop resilience when facing challenging situations.

    View Emotion Token Stencils

    Social Skills and Collaboration

    Learning how to work with others is a crucial developmental skill that will be used throughout a lifetime. In fact, more that 50% of people say their jobs require collaboration with one another and 75% of employees rate team work as being crucial in the workplace. Arts and crafts often involve collaboration and social interaction, whether it’s contributing to a group project or sharing ideas and materials with peers. These interactions teach children key social skills like sharing, voicing your opinion, taking turns, and cooperating towards a common goal. They learn to respect diverse perspectives, communicate effectively, and work as part of a team, which are essential skills for navigating social relationships in the future.

    View Kid Puzzle Pieces

    Incorporating arts and crafts at an early age is more than just a recreational activity – it’s a powerful tool for holistic development. From honing in on fine motor skills and cognitive development to gaining emotional intelligence and social competence, the benefits are far-reaching and long-lasting. By providing opportunities for creative expression and exploration, we empower children to unlock their full potential and become confident and independent individuals. Let’s nurture their creativity, one masterpiece at a time!

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    Dream Catcher

    New ideas for Craft! Create your own beautiful modern style Dream Catcher using our R42280, release stress and relieve yourself. Learn how to create these dream catchers and add a wonderful touch to your home.

    Age: 4+

    Duration: 20 Minutes

    Learning Objectives:  Decorate the thick cardboard hoops with markers, paint or crayons before threading the string through the pre-punched holes. Use our stringing suggestions or ask students to invent their own patterns. Don’t forget to decorate the included card feathers.

    You’ll Need:

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    Take the cardboard dream catcher and pop out the cardboard hoop and feathers.

    On the back side of Cardboard hoop, number the holes on the hoop from 1-12 and decorate the front with paint or color of your choice.

    Once you are done, take the plastic needle and twine. Pass the twine through the needle.

    Now, start threading the string through the pre-punched holes. Let’s Begin at hole #1. Pass the needle from the back of hoop no. 1 and now, pass it through hoop no. 8 form the front.

    Follow this pattern: 1,8,3,10,5,12,7,2,9,4,11. (You can also make your own weaving patterns).

    Keep following the pattern and once you reach at hoop no. 11, you’ll see a beautiful pattern. Now, Cut off the extra twine from both ends and tie at the back. Our Net is complete.

    It’s time to decorate the feathers. Paint the cardboard feathers with the color of your choice and let it soak for few minutes. After 20-30 minutes, pop the feathers out.

    Take the plastic needle again and thread the twine through the hole in the chipboard feather. We’ll use beads this time to get an attractive look. Pass the feather and beads through needle.

    Add as many beads as you want in it and tie them to the hole no.#7. Repeat the same procedure and make three hanging strings.

    Let’s decorate our dream catcher and give it an eye catching look. Use Our R15703 Hair Paper. It includes number of colors. Choose one of your choice and glue it at the back of Cardboard hoop.

    Take a craft paper, pencil and scissor and draw this flower shape. Cut it off and start rolling it inwards. Glue it at the end. You’ll get a beautiful flower.

    Follow the same steps and make some flowers of pink and green color and stick those on our dream catcher. Make some butterflies with craft paper and glue the butterflies on the net.
    Our Dream Catcher is ready.

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    Valentine’s Day: Pop Up Pivot Cards

    Make your Valentine feel Special. Create your own Super Cute Valentine Card by using our New R51460 Pop Up Pivot Cards. Send a love note to all your friends and family members with this sweet Valentine’s Day card. The clever design is easy to assemble and fun to decorate. The three-dimensional message card unfolds and pivots as the card opens.

    Age: 5+

    Duration: 15-30 minutes

    Learning Objectives: Makes a perfect take-home craft. Encourage creativity. Integrate art, literacy, and holiday activities. Exercise fine motor skills.

    You’ll need:

    This Craft Lesson is divided into three Parts:

    • The front card
    • The Pivot Mechanism
    • The Pop-Up Message Card

    Let’s get started

    There are three pieces to each card: the card, the pop-up message card and the pivot mechanism. Take all three and fold the card in half.

    Now, start decorating the card. Take craft papers of different bright colors. Make some heart shapes (small and big) and cut those out. Once you get your heart shapes, glue the smaller hearts onto the bigger ones.

    Glue all the heart shapes onto the front of Card. To make the cad looks attractive, glue the bigger shapes first and then the smaller ones. You will get a beautiful front.

    Take the Pivot Mechanism. Fold it in half horizontally along the score line. Fold down and inside both the left and right wings.

    Take the pop-up message card. Fold it in a zigzag fashion along the score line.

    Now, apply glue to both the left lower and upper right flaps of the pivot mechanism. Unfold the message card and align both ends to the glued area of pivot mechanism.

    Let’s decorate the message card, take a colored craft paper of your choice. Fold it in half and draw three heart shapes(just draw one sided hearts).

    Cut out the heart shapes. Make two kissing emojis and one heart eyes emoji using black marker and small heart shapes. Glue the heart eyes emoji at the center of message card and kissing emojis on the left and right flaps.

    Once you are done, apply glue within the indicator lines on the inside of the card and then apply glue to the top of the pivot mechanism. Fold the card shut.

    It’s time to decorate the inside of card. Take a craft paper, fold it from center and draw one sided heart. Cut the heart shape out.

    Then, take any couple’s picture. Start cutting the picture. Choose your spot from where to start and follow along the lines. Cut nicely around the couple and once you are done, glue it on the heart shape.

    Glue the decorated heart on the upper side of card and draw any teddy or cartoon on the other side and fill it with some nice crayons or pencil colors. Your Valentines Card is ready.

    Happy valentine’s Day!

    Use these cards for Birthdays, Get Well Soon, Mother’s or Father’s Day.

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    New Product Highlight: Dinosaur Unruly Rulers

    Get ready for an art adventure! This set of 6 stencils is fun and useful. Use these Dinosaur Rulers to create your own Dinosaur. Trace around the stencil and add colors when finished.

    Age: 3+

    Duration: 15-20 minutes

    Learning Objectives: Mix and match dinosaur elements to create unique prehistoric animals. Use colored pencils, markers and crayons to decorate your dinos. The simple designs are easy by a wide range of ages.

    You’ll need:

    • Crayons, Pencil crayons or markers to design and decorate the dinos
    • Scissor
    • Glue Stick
    line-08.png (585×76)

    Take a stencil and place it onto a paper. Start tracing the interior edges to draw a perfect dinosaur.

    Trace all the body parts starting from head to toe. Mix & match all the elements to give it a proper shape.

    Finish the dinosaur shape off with a tail. Here you can see how well the patterns transfers onto the sheet.

    Now, it’s time to give colors to this dinosaur. Start filling the shape with your preferred color of crayons and decorate it with your favorite color combination.

    To make it more unique, cut out the dinosaur. Choose any picture or a piece of craft paper and glue it on it.

    It’s a lot of fun for children to discover the different types of dinosaurs. Try all Dinosaur Rulers and make your own Dinosaur.

    Please watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/VM-YXhzKXcw
    Visit our website https://roylco.com/shop/dinosaur-unruly-rulers/ for more information.

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    New Product Highlight: Color Wheel Stencils

    Create fun by encouraging students to create personal color wheels! We like this activity because it can be simple or complex, with a good balance between structure that guides students and open-ended fun that fosters creativity.

    Age: 4+
    Duration: 15-30 minutes

    Here are few ideas on how to use them:

    Idea 1: Get familiar with colors by keeping it simple.

    What you’ll need:

    LET”S GET STARTED

    Take a wheel Stencil of your Choice. Put it onto a paper. Start filing up the inner edges with your choice of Color. To get an attractive look, try different colors. You can use Crayons, Markers or Pencil Colors. Once you are done, take off the stencil and see how beautifully the patterns get transfer to the sheet!

    Idea 2: Take your color wheels up a notch by adding texture.

    What you’ll need:

    Take a Wheel Stencil and place it onto a white paper. Place one of our R48250 Rubbing Plate underneath the white paper. The twist starts from here. Fill the first wheel pattern with color of your choice. Once you are done, take that rubbing plate out and switch it with another rubbing plate. Fill up all the patterns by using as many rubbing plates you want and you’ll see the difference.

    Idea 3: Take your color diffusing projects in a more structured direction by incorporating the color wheel.

    You’ll need:

    Take a R15212 Color diffusing Paper and place a wheel stencil over it. Outline the wheel patterns with a chalk or with a white crayon. Now, place the diffusing paper on a no mess tray. Take Our R54466 Junior Paint Spritzers, fill the bottle with liquid water color paint and spritz out a fine mist of color. Use different colors to create different effects.

    Let us know how you choose to use your Color Wheel Stencils! Have fun and get creative!
    Visit our website https://roylco.com/shop/color-wheel-stencils/ for more information.

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    Product Spotlight: Holiday Color Diffusing Shapes

    This month, we’re featuring two of our NEW products:

    These color diffusing shapes help us get in the holiday spirit while simultaneously developing a deeper understanding of color. There are 3 easy ways to transform these shapes from A to B:

    A. Plain Color Diffusing shapes–functional but still waiting for the magic to happen
    B. Color Diffusing magic transformed the shapes into these beautiful works of art!

    Method 1: Washable Marker & Water

    This is the easiest method and the mess-free method. Simply use any washable marker to color the shape, and don’t worry about filling in all the white spaces! When you’re done, spray water on the shape and watch the colors diffuse and create secondary or even tertiary colors.

    If you need a spray bottle for the water, we recommend Junior Paint Spritzers–they are perfect for small hands.

    Method 2: Watercolor

    Break out your trusty watercolor set and go to town! Because of the water used with the watercolor paint, the colors will diffuse throughout the paper as you paint. You can always add some extra water at the end and watch the colors diffuse even more. This is especially helpful if you’d like to make light or pastel designs.

    Method 3: Liquid Watercolor & Water

    This method creates the most impressive designs, IMHO. You can find liquid watercolors online or at your local craft store. Be careful because these paints can be POTENT! It takes quite a few washes to remove the paint from hands, but that is also what makes the designs so beautiful on Color Diffusing paper.

    Simply use a spray bottle with the liquid watercolor to add splashes of color to your Color Diffusing shapes. Once you’re happy, spray the shapes with water and watch the colors blend!

    If you need a spray bottle for the color or water, we recommend Junior Paint Spritzers–they are perfect for small hands.

    Pro tip: Stick to primary colors! It’s easy to get carried away with color, but once they start diffusing, they have a tendency to blend into one, amorphous brown color if you get too complicated!

    Try all 3 and let us know your favorite method!

    If you like this, you’ll like Blots of Ornaments too! These ornaments have the added benefits of being cut out of extra thick, high-quality color diffusing paper so that they can be used as real ornaments on a tree or windowsill!

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    Decorative Tree Ornaments

    Feature-Image-DecoTreeSculpture

    Add a personal touch to your decorations this holiday season with a beautiful and surprisingly simple craft ornament. It requires nothing more than some decorative paper and a few yards of yarn!

    Age: 4+

    Duration: 15 minutes

    You’ll Need:

    • R15420 Black and White Paper/ R15200 Patterned Paper Classpack / R15203 Decorative Hues Paper / R15421 Double -Sided Rainbow Paper / R15409 Economy Metallic Paper / R15289 All Kinds of Fabric Paper/ R15256 Amazing Animal Paper / R15263 Tie-Dry Craft Paper/ R15303 Retro Pop Paper

    • Yarn

    • Scissors

    • Tape

    • Ruler

    • Protractor

    Line-03This would be a great opportunity to introduce children on how to use a protractor to make angles. For this activity, children will use protractors to make different sizes of semi-circles for the cone shapes.

    IMG_7791Select the different types of paper you would like to use in your Christmas tree ornament. Our trees have 4-5 tiers to them. If you would like to make the trees smaller, simply leave out the two interior tiers.

    IMG_7797Lay the ruler horizontally across the length of the paper. For the largest and last tier, place the first point at the middle of the ruler. Draw a semi-circle from one corner of the page to the opposite corner.

    IMG_7799The second tier should feature a semi-circle that is about 9″ in width.

    IMG_7801The third tier should feature a semi-circle that is 6″ in width.

    IMG_7804

    The last tier should feature a semi-circle that is about 4½” in width.

    IMG_7806Cut out each of the semi-circles.

    IMG_7809Roll the semi-circles into cones and secure the edges together with tape. Note: When you roll up the cones, be sure to leave a bit of an opening at the top. You’ll need the opening to thread string through.

    DecoTreeAnimation

    Tie a knot at the bottom of the yarn. String the rest of the yarn through the opening in the top of the cone. Continue to thread the yarn through the rest of the cones.

    IMG_7819Simply make a loop from the yarn and place onto a tree branch or hang in a window.

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    How are you decorating your classroom for the winter holidays? Send us photos of your inventive craft decorations to subscriber@roylco.ca!

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