Made with Dad

With Father's Day approaching Made with Dad: From Wizards’ Wands to Japanese Dolls, Craft Projects to Build, Make, and Do with Your Kidswas a tempting book to review. While some Dads naturally share hobbies and skills with their children others are looking for ideas and suggestions for connecting with their children. This book is written for those Dads and also provides plenty of craft ideas for others interested in working with their children on learning to use tools and creating crafts.

The book begins by discussing the types of tools and materials one will need to complete the projects found in the book. The author also discusses how to use modeling as a method to teach the use of knives and other tools as you introduce these to children prior to actually letting them use the tools themselves.

The projects are divided into Arts and Crafts, Waves and Wheels, Great Adventures, Final Frontiers, Happy Holidays, and Advanced Models. There are a wide range of projects in these topics and they build from the skills learned in the early projects into more complicated projects through the later projects. There are craft projects, cooking, models, science projects, and toys. Many use household items like bottles, but the later projects include more complex items.

While the target audience of this book is fathers working with their children, this is an interesting resource for anyone who is looking for interesting projects that provide a creative learning situation with the opportunity to begin to use tools.