Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts for Kids: 175 Projects for Kids of All Ages to Create, Build, Design, Explore, and Share

by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts for Kids focuses on craft projects that children, aged three to twelve, can make with their parents. These projects are fun, yet serve a practical purpose; children can wear, decorate, and play with what they make. Filled with ideas for a range of ages, skill levels, and interests, this book lets children's creativity run wild, while creating precious memories as parents and kids learn and create as a team.

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction, Childrens, Art, Parenting, Adult

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 18, 2013

About the author

Martha Helen Stewart is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising and e-commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, was the publisher of Martha Stewart Living magazine and hosted two syndicated television programs: Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2004, and The Martha Stewart Show, which ran from 2005 to 2012.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case; she served five months in federal prison for fraud and was released in March 2005. There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire, but in 2005 Stewart began a comeback campaign and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairwoman of her namesake company again in 2012. The company was acquired by Sequential Brands in 2015. Sequential Brands Group agreed in April 2019 to sell Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, including the Emeril brand, to Marquee Brands for $175 million with benchmarked additional payments.

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might be a 5 star if the title didn't say "for kids". A good portion of these crafts would be difficult for the average adult to do, never mind a kid.

Maybe "Adult crafts for kids to play with (and some to look at), and oh yeah kids can do a few of them, maybe".

I got a few neat ideas, like oh yeah, we should paint rocks, and make pipe cleaner animals, but to be honest I made my toddler a garage out of an old shoebox and he looked at me like I was a weirdo and continued to play with the garage his father constructed from duplo.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think these crafts are a little too advanced and complicated for kids. The book is more geared towards the adults making the crafts and then the kids playing with them. I don't think even I could do some of the crafts in there. They look a little hard.

[Taylor's♡Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was really fun to go through with my son. I made some of the puppets, paper crowns, and bingo cards which were a big hit.

Unfortunately, I probably shouldn't have let my son go through it, as he wanted to make the marble run that had like 412 random bits and pieces to it. It probably would have taken my entire life to collect every piece in order to make some of these crafts.

So my advice is probably to photocopy the crafts you have the capability of creating, and then show them to your child.

Learn from my poor decisions.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely crafts book with step-by-step illustrated instructions. The book cover says that these are "projects for kids of all ages" but realistically they are geared for middle grade children with adult supervision. However with time, supplies and adult assistance, older children can use this book to make high quality, imaginative projects.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent source of ideas, including many you may recognize from childhood. You'd need a high adult to child ratio to make a lot of these work as kid-made crafts, but as adult-made toys there are a few that would be nostalgic and satisfying to make. Cute pictures, but not a ton of value added by instructions in this one.

[Boxofdelights · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for research for Wiscon Kids' Programming. A good variety degrees of difficulty. I have not yet tried the instructions on actual kids. I'd love to do the peg board marble runs. I'm going to search for a fiber artist who would like to teach felting.

[Bonni]

Beautiful book with pictures for every craft. Crafts aren't complicated but they do require a good amount of supplies and adult help no matter the age. Would make a good gift with some supplies. Worth getting from the library, definitely.

[HM · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some really great ideas in here, even though this is an older book. However, many of the crafts really can ‘t be made well by the kids in that age range, which is sadly thypcial for Martha Stewart. You can bet the stuff in here was all made by 20-0somethings. Be forewarned.

[Joy Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

a lot of good ideas

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing and I cannot wait to do these crafts with my daughter.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

lots og good ideas

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun for kids and adults.

[Lake Shore Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book with great, colorful photos of each craft. The templates in the back would be more useful if they were actual size, instead of having to be enlarged.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than any of the craft manuals we had growing up, not a ton better than Pinterest but it's all in one place and is worth keeping on hand if you do lots of crafts.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fat book just full of goood craft ideas . It has novel ideas and even better it has instructions that instruct!

[Marleene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike many of Martha Stewart's books, this one doesn't seem to be as obsessively researched or painstakingly researched by her staff. The photographs of each craft are lovely and will be tempting to kids and adults, provoking what I imagine will be great longing to make one "just like the picture"but this will be quite difficult in many cases.

For example the friendship bracelets on pp 180-181 give beautifully photographed examples of varying complexity - and two confusing drawings as to how to create them. The written directions are not very clear either. The directions in many of these projects are too sparse and there aren't enough step by step illustrations to assist.

Some materials will be hard to collect. I live in a large city but there is no roving available in any of the local craft shops, and several felting projects use this material. Many projects will need special components ordered before doing them.

Some of the directions assume adults can help with everything. "Ask an adult to drill holes into five blocks" uh...
I am an adult and I need a handyman to drill things for me.

There aren't suggested age ranges for these activities. Unless one is an experienced art teacher or OT, I think most parents might need some guidance in helping to choose an appropriate craft that won't be beyond their child's skills, frustration tolerance or attention span.

The plus is that there are a wide variety of crafts/activities presented; and that it isn't heavily biased in favor of girls which so many books do.

[Laura Ellison · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you don't mind spending some money, if you don't mind doing most of the projects and then once you complete them kids can play with them, then you might like this book. I was thinking it would be crafts that kids could do by themselves, and I assumed that it would be feasible for them to pay for them as well with allowance money. That is not so. Some of these projects would be difficult for even skilled crafters to make, much less children. Plus some require very specific items that aren't just laying around the house (at least I don't have a washboard hanging around my house). So while some of the craft projects were very neat, I couldn't see myself doing many of them with my niece and nephews.

[September Michaud · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read through this book looking for projects for my upcoming Art in the Park library program. I was specifically looking for SIMPLE but INTERESTING arts and crafts that the kids (preschool+) could do outside with their parents.

I found a few things, made notes about them, and gave this book back to the library. While not all of the crafts were useful to me, in fact a handful I mostly ignored, there were some that I would like to try in future programs and there was one in particular that I would like to try on my own (Cross-Stitch How-To: Make Your Own Patterns Using Graph Paper).

Over-all, I would say it's absolutely worth your time to borrow, but maybe not to buy.

[Penny McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have enjoyed this book so much. Beautiful illustrations and clear instructions combine to make a great resource for any family. It would be worth purchasing a copy for your home or giving as a fantastic gift to young kids (they'll grow into the trickier crafts) or an older kid as they would be able to find success the the projects on their own.

Although we have gone through it together a few times we'll be keeping it out of the library until the end of the lending period as we are in the midst of two of the crafts and need to keep it around for inspiration. A wonderful book.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific craft book for children of all ages. There are projects here that will appeal to 4 year olds and some geared toward Tweens. Martha is a master of detail, and her knack for creating attractive projects shines through. This top-notch collection is beautifully photographed, with clear instructions. Projects use common materials for the most part, most found around the house or easily purchased at the crafts store. Projects are well balanced for girls and boys. I loved the felted purses and pipe cleaner animals. A terrific addition to our collection.

[SoundofSilence_BookFan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually love all things Martha but this book just did not strike me. Almost everyone one of the crafts requires not only adult supervision and quite a few seem like the adult does the entire craft. The crafts are, in my opinion, mainly aimed at older children. I had expected more to be young child friendly since her intro mentions her young grand daughter. The book would definitely not work for a toddler or young preschooler in my house.

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't pick this up with high expectations and some of the crafts (Cross-stitch Family Portraits! Solar System Bedroom!) are not going to be practical in a library or school setting, but other crafts, like the adorable Cotton-Ball Sheep, are simple enough for even a Toddler Story Time, and there were several science-based crafts that would be great for our upcoming Summer of Learning, such as the Giant Bubble Wand and Crafty Cars. Worth checking out!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book, just not for someone like me (i.e. not very crafty). The photographs are beautiful and there's a wide range of crafts to choose from. I don't think there's a lot of crafts in here that smaller kids could do themselves, however it could inspire a crafty parent or teacher to come up with something for the kids they have. And an older craft-loving kid would absolutely love this book!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun ideas in here, especially like that so many of the craft involve reused or recycled materials instead of having to buy new supplies or kits. Mostly for older kids though, I wouldn't attempt many of these with children under the age of 7 (depending on the kid), too complex for most young kids.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well thought-out, well laid-out, and full of fun ideas. I like the balance between easier projects and more involved projects (from embellishing flip-flops to felting). I particularly like the "seasonal" section, with fun ideas for Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, etc. My four-year-old daughter and I are excited to give these projects a try.

[Glenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been a Martha Stewart fan. I'm more of an Erma Bombeck kind of gal myself. But this book actually has some good ideas and most of the crafts are relatively simple and done with items you probably already have or can easily get. I checked it out from the library. Don't think I'd buy it, but I like quite a few of the ideas.

[Rosalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happily read and looked through, and looked through this creative and crafty read. I would even recommend having this as a go-to for reference when you need some ideas. The book is well put together with organized sections, and most any of the crafts can be made or altered to your own preferences. 5 Stars, well worth the look and read :)

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

These crafts first appeared in the Martha Stewart Kids Magazine (which I'm so sad stopped publication). I'm so glad there's now a compilation of these ideas.

As a children's librarian I'm always looking for things to do with pre-schoolers and grammar schoolers and middle schoolers. All of these crafts can be done with little or no investment in supplies.

[Sherri Osborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many creative projects in this book. With 175 fun and unique projects in this book, everyone will enjoy it... You can read my entire review here: http://aboutfamilycrafts.com/martha-s...

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. A lot of ideas I have seen in the no longer available Martha Stewart Kids Magazine and plenty of new projects. My girls couldn't stop looking at the book and wanted to make a lot of the projects. Would make a wonderful gift to any parent of young children!