If your children enjoy creating crafts, Crafts in a Kit, from Laura and Olivia Hooks, will be right up your alley. This mother-daughter business was created to help foster time together, time away from screens, and creativity. The ideas come from the collaboration of Laura and Olivia.

For the purpose of this review, we received the VACAYMODE kit. This kit had four separate crafts in it and each one was packaged separately to make it easy to find all of the pieces for the craft. We got a vacation book, a finger kite, a barefoot sandal set, and a wire craft project. Each plastic zip close bag had all the pieces for that project along with printed instructions for creating the project. It was nicely tied together and presented well. It would make a great gift, too!

The vacation book had a front and back cover of thin foam and several card stock pages. There were stickers to add to the pages and some printed pages to paste onto the card stock page with an activity. One activity was to find different license plates. Another was to create cloud formations with cotton balls (provided). A third was to visit a nature area or zoo and find some animals. Then with the provided animal stickers, show which animals you saw. There was also the encouragement to create their own pages based on what they were doing and seeing. Included was a piece of cording to tie the pages together to create the book.

The finger kite kit was a cute little kite. A template to cut out was provided. Using the template, you cut the kite out of some thick, shiny paper. Using straws and string, the instructions taught how to tie a cross-piece for the kite and glue it on. The kite can then be flown behind the child running around the house or the yard.

The wire craft project provided a background page on which a scene could be drawn. There were five pieces of thin wire to bend and create figures to be a part of the scene. This was the most advanced part of the kit due to needing to bend and twist and turn the wires to be what you wanted them to become. It was, though, a fantastic project that allowed for lots of freedom and creativity in how and what to show.

The fourth project was the barefoot sandals. Following the instructions, the child ties knots on a cord and then strings colorful beads. This then ties around the ankle and toes to become a sandal to wear barefoot around the house or on the beach. This was probably the favorite of the kits and my 9-year-old has worn these several times in the last week.

Crafts in a Kit by Laura and Olivia are a wonderful concept - fun and fairly easy crafts sent to your home with most of the materials needed. We just had to get some glue and pencils or markers for a couple of the projects. Everything else was there. The kit had a wide variety of projects that fit a wide variety of ages. From the 6-year-old who made the booklet to our 9 year old doing the sandals to the 12 year old making the kite and the 14 year old creating the wire project, each project was as unique as the child working on it and provided some fun and enjoyment without any work on my part. These Crafts in a Kit provided us a fun couple of hours and are a wonderful product.

-Product review by Lori Hooten, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September, 2018

Crafts in a Kit
Laura and Olivia Hooks
https://www.facebook.com/groups/133835950644792/

Crafts in a Kit is the brainchild of Laura Hooks and her daughter, Olivia. They developed crafts in a kit to help encourage less screen time and more creativity as well as spending time together as a family. Kits sell for $10 for the first kit and $5 for each additional kit, making this very affordable for families with several children.

Crafts in a Kit offer a variety of different craft kits including the Fine Motor Kits for young children, as well as for those with special needs and the elderly. They also have Family Packs and Teen Packs, many of which are seasonal. For instance, in the fall, they had a special Pumpkin Pack, and when we received our kit in July, we received the Vacay Mode Craft in a Kit package.

The Vacay Mode Craft in a Kit package included four crafts: make a finger kite, make a scrapbook, make a barefoot sandal, and make wire figures. Each craft came in its own sealable, plastic baggie and had typed instructions in addition to the necessary supplies. Crafters only need to supply basic items they have around the home such as glue, scissors, a ruler, etc. The package arrived with a handwritten tag and a nice bow around the four individually packaged crafts; it was a nice surprise to open and find that extra little touch.

I have a kinesthetic learner, and she absolutely loved the crafts. Her favorite was the barefoot sandals, which took her about 20 minutes to create. She proceeded to wear them around home for several days, so she really enjoyed the process and the completed product. These kits are great for all kids, homeschooled or not.

I’m definitely going to purchase more of these craft kits for my daughter, as she had a great time making and using the finished product. However, there are a few changes we’d love to see. Specifically, we’d like to also see a picture of the completed project or a YouTube video in addition to the text directions. My daughter isn’t the strongest reader, and she wanted to see what the finished product looked like before she started working, which would help her understand the directions better. Second, you can only reach the company through Facebook, and that’s also where customers order. While Crafts in a Kit was very responsive to my Facebook question, I’d love to see Crafts in a Kit have their own website and ordering capability through the website.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive craft kit for your child, whether preschooler or teen, or an older person, you can’t go wrong with Crafts in a Kit.

--Product Review by Melissa Batai, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2018