While many parents are daunted by the idea of tackling craft projects alone with their kids, with little effort, even the least creative parent will find crafting to be an easy, relaxing activity. With a few materials from around the home and some basic supplies, you too will be producing quick and easy crafts with your kids. By keeping these few simple tips in mind, you can literally create countless crafts with your children without having to break a sweat or make a mess.

Keep it Simple
Toy and craft stores sell fancy, expensive crafting materials and kits. While these can be fun and shouldn't be overlooked, they aren't necessary for creative, fun projects. Construction paper, glue, scissors, scrap fabric, non-toxic paints, crayons, and markers are sufficient for thousands of potential crafts, especially when combined with discarded household items or backyard treasures.

Recycle and Reuse
Save empty milk jugs, paper towel rolls, bottle caps, old wrapping paper and greeting cards, and other various boxes and containers for crafts. A plastic storage bin or large cardboard box can make a perfect storage receptacle for these items, which can be saved for a rainy day craft. Not only are these items ideal craft materials, but crafting with these items will teach your kids about the importance of recycling and reuse in a very tangible context. Include in your stash old newspapers to use for protecting your craft table and other surfaces.

File It
You don't need to buy expensive books or subscribe to magazines to get a constant flow of ideas for crafting. Web sites, newspapers, library books, pre-school newsletters and more can provide you with hundreds of great crafting ideas. Clip, print, or copy to create a file of ideas for a rainy day. You can pre-screen for quick and easy craft ideas, and also use these articles as a guideline for items to store and save.

Be Selective
If you are looking for something quick and easy, reject craft ideas that are a twelve-step program or have a materials list longer than your weekly grocery receipt. Don't go out of your way to tackle a craft for which you do not already have the necessary materials, and only use non-toxic, washable paints and inks. If you are not the adventurous sort, you might look for craft directions that include patterns or pictures you can cut out for reference.

Style and Blow Dry
Allowing an item to dry naturally is a perfect time for taking a break from crafting, but if you are under time constraints, such as at a birthday party or scout meeting, use blow dryers to speed up the drying of paint or glue. Craft projects will dry in a fraction of the time with applied air and heat, and usually drying to the touch will suffice for moving on to the next step of a project.

Keep it Clean
By far one of the most frustrating aspects that keeps parents from crafting is the potential mess. Mess can be minimized by always remembering to protect your crafting surfaces generously with newspaper. When you are done crafting, just pick up, and toss. Using water-based paints, inks, and glues will make washing a snap, and manufacturers produce plenty of easily washable markers, paints, and other materials commercially. And if you are following the advice of being selective, you can always reject projects that include mess if clean-up is not in the cards. Origami, pipe-cleaner sculpting, and watercolors are a few examples of low or no-mess crafts.

Have Fun
Remember, crafting with your kids is about exploring creativity and having fun. You expect produce the perfect, flawless product. Professional photographs of crafts usually are taken in ideal lighting and made exclusively by adults, with the discarding of several less-than-perfect attempts. Don't feel that your product has to look like a picture in a magazine - to your child, it's a special work of art.

There is little that is more rewarding than crafting with your children. You are creating not only an opportunity for your child to express his creativity, but you giving him special time with you [i]you.[/u] You are creating not only fun and whimsical items, but precious memories for your family that you will cherish for the rest of your lives.