*Ad-gifted: We received some copies of Creative Steps Magazine in exchange for this review. All thoughts however are my own.
Creative Steps
Helping kids learn through creative play
I've always loved being creative since being a child and as an adult I love creative hobbies such as filling in my sketchbook and calligraphy for example. Having worked previously in childcare way before having Blake also has meant that arts and crafts are something that I enjoy doing.
Creative Steps magazine got in touch and kindly offered me the chance to receive some copies of the past years magazines. I love finding fun ideas of arts and crafts to do with Blake and I'm often on pinterest looking for ideas. So creative Steps magazine is definitely my kind of thing.
Creative steps magazine is a magazine that is published 4 times a year in both print and digital form. It's a magazine suitable for those involved in early years education -including childminders, nurseries, primary schools and home educators. Creative Steps provides fun craft projects and activity ideas to encourage learning through creative play, many making use of recycled household products.
The annual print subscription is £29.80, which includes postage and free access to the online editions too.
My thoughts:
The magazine is jam packed full of creative fun ideas. I love that it's a quarterly magazine which include season appropriate activities. The activities featured will definitely keep you busy until the next magazine is released.
It's not just filled with fun activities to do but there are also competitions and other special features such as it's a gift where you can find some wonderful toys, games and book ideas that make fantastic gifts and the reading corner with book suggestions.
As you can see on the contents page featured above the crafts are divided into age groups. 0-5 years, 5-7 Years and 7 to 11 years. I find this really helpfully as I can look at what's going to be age appropriate for Blake. Plus you can keep the magazine so you can go back for when your child reaches the next age bracket.
All the activities that are featured in the magazine are easy to understand and explained in detail with what you need, a step by step guide and a colourful photo of the finished activity.
I like that they include extra information such as what it helps child to learn. An example is the paper mosaic name activity you can see above. It mentions that it teaches name recognition and spelling as well as being good for fine motor skills.
You will find that most of the bits you need to complete these activities are found around the home. I also love that some activities feature fun facts such as the rainbow cloud activity we did. There is an area that tells you about rainbows such as how they are made and what they are.
Projects that are suitable for group activities are highlighted meaning that thouse who are involved in early years education such as childminders and home educators are aware.
Over all the magazine is fantastic at providing a wide range of activities and crafty inspiration for adults to do with young children. My opinion is that as a parent it's always a good idea to have some art and crafty inspiration on hand especially for the rainy days or the days your child comes to you saying they are bored.
