As any parent knows, it can be difficult at times to keep your children engaged and having fun, especially on those rainy days when they're forced to stay inside.  Riley has loved to draw and color for a while now, but at two years old, we're finally beginning to do real crafts together.  Riley couldn't be happier either and has absolutely loved our new craft time.

Unfortunately, finding fresh, fun crafting ideas can sometimes be a challenge, so I was thrilled to learn of a site called CraftProjectIdeas.com which shares plenty of inspiration for exciting kid-friendly craft projects.  I recently had the chance to review the Rainy Day Survival Kit #2 with Riley.  Keep reading to learn more!

CraftProjectIdeas.com is dedicated to kids' arts and crafts projects for preschool children to tweens.  From holidays to rainy days, in the classroom or at home, you will find step-by-step instructions to inspire kids with arts and crafts!  Products featured on this site are available at Walmart in the Kids Crafts aisle.

The Rainy Day Survival Kit #2 that we received contained the following supplies for four fun crafting projects:

• Jumbo Craft Sticks (75-count)
• Wiggly Eye Assortment (150 pieces)
• Paint Brushes (30-pack)
• Washable Paint Bottles (6-pack)
• Foam Cube Stamps (80-pack)
• Hemp Cord (3-pack)
• Pony Beads Multi-Color Tub (1500 pieces)
• Magnetic Buttons (50 pieces)
• (2) Adhesive Magnetic Sheets

The four project instruction sheets we received came right from the CraftProjectIdeas.com website, which can all be downloaded for free.  Here are the crafting activities which were possible to do with the Rainy Day Survival Kit #2:

• Color Wheel ~ Make your very own color wheel from a paper plate and washable paints
• Magnetic Tangram ~ Enforce basic shapes and measuring skills by creating this colorful magnetic tangram
• Patriotic Key Chain ~ Celebrate the red, white and blue by creating a U.S. flag keychain
• Schoolhouse Picture Frame Magnet ~ Using just jumbo craft sticks, washable paint and a magnetic button, you can ring in the new school year with this timely picture frame

Since all four of these activities were a little too advanced for my two-year-old to complete, I decided to deviate a tad and use some of the included craft items from the Rainy Day Survival Kit so that Riley and I could make beaded necklaces!  We used the hemp cord and the pony beads and had an absolutely delightful time making our new jewelry.

Riley kept saying over and over how much she enjoyed stringing the pony beads onto the hemp cord and played and laughed for almost an hour during this project.  She would say, "This is so much fun!" or "I love this bead class!" again and again and I truly had a great time making these necklaces with her.

She got to practice counting, naming her colors and especially her fine motor skills by concentrating and stringing the beads for her own unique necklace.  I, on the other hand, made a pretty groovy necklace in Halloween colors just for Riley to wear when she goes trick-or-treating or when it gets a little bit closer to this holiday.  You can see her modeling her new necklace in the picture below.

If you are constantly searching for a fun and easy way to keep your children entertained which doesn't involve a TV, video game or computer, then I highly recommend introducing them to the world of crafting.  CraftProjectIdeas.com has a huge selection of free craft ideas as well as craft kit suggestions which can all be purchased at Walmart the next time you go shopping.

Riley couldn't have enjoyed our little crafting session any more, which has me busy planning our next activity.  Check out the great kits they currently have available for Halloween...your little boy or ghoul will be thrilled with these.  :halloween: