Looking for an outdoor hobby to engage your children and encourage them to be crafty and creative? Wood carving is not only easy to learn and fun to do, but almost everything you need to get started can be found for free -- right outside your door! Together you can craft a tumbling tower game, a racing car toy, a dolphin necklace or even a handy coat hook! With more than fifty activities at levels for beginners and up, children can create something useful, beautiful or fun (often all three!) out of wood. Learning wood carving not only helps to improve children's concentration, creativity and dexterity, it's also invaluable in teaching them how to handle knives safely. Adventurous children will be thrilled to learn woodland skills, while nature-loving parents will enjoy rediscovering the lost art of whittling with their kids.

Learn how to make magical window stars from coloured tissue paper using special paper-folding techniques. This book includes step-by-step instructions, easy-to-follow diagrams and inspiring colour photographs for making twenty-five beautiful window stars, suitable for all seasons. From easy patterns for beginners to more complex designs each project is graded for difficulty to allow you to progress your paper-folding skills with confidence. Perfect for crafting at any time of the year, some projects such as the wintry Frost Flower star and the springtime Daisy star are great for marking the change of the seasons. The dazzling tissue paper transparencies will brighten your home or school windows throughout the year.

Learn how to make fairies and mermaids to suit every season, and discover the joy of crafting with magic wool. Magic wool is a soft, vibrant material, perfect for creating figures for nature tables, celebrations, and Christmas decorations. From beautiful seasonal fairies, to shimmering mermaids and charming root children, crafters can create a wonderful selection of figures as the perfect focal point for festivals and storytelling. This inspiring book includes clear step-by-step instructions, colour photographs and diagrams for more than twenty standing figures, created using a combination of winding and needle-felting. The projects range from simple figures for beginners to more elaborate designs for experienced crafters.

'Humans experience great joy in colours. The eye needs them as it needs the light.' -- J.W. Goethe Beautiful tissue-paper window scenes are a lovely way to bring colour and light into a home or classroom. This book has full instructions and templates for making a range of striking window transparencies that capture the mood of the seasons: yellow daffodils for spring, a red sailing boat for summer, orange leaves in autumn, a blue sled for snowy winter. Children will love seeing the transformation when colours are layered and the light falls through them. The projects in this book will support both beginner and expert, teachers of parents in developing cutting and layering skills, and sparking children's imaginations.

Bring animals from the farm, countryside and wood to life with the magic of feltcraft. Wool is a wonderfully natural and tactile material for crafting. This beautifully presented book guides readers through the creation of their own three-dimensional felt creatures from raw wool batting, using Rotraud Reinhard's unique 'building-up' method. From lazy cats to jumping squirrels, tiny mice to majestic deer, this richly illustrated book offers step-by-step instructions for more than 25 different animals, many of which can be made in several stances and sizes to fit different nature scenes. The book also provides options for designing individual fur markings and details. As individual animals or in a seasonal tableau, these natural-looking animals will enrich any home or classroom.

Crochet your own unique, handmade toys for friends and family -- all made with love! This book includes step-by-step instructions, diagrams and photographs for making a range of toy animals for children to cuddle and play with. Choose from large comforting companions such as a pig, sheep, penguin or cheeky crocodile, or small playful animals such as ducklings, squirrels, frogs and owls. Each animal is made using basic crochet stitches before being carefully assembled. Clear instructions and diagrams for all the techniques ensure the projects are suitable both for complete beginners and those more accomplished at crochet. The charming animals featured in this book will provide high-quality, special friends for the children in your life.

A unique craft book in two parts learn to make a felted farm and enjoy an illustrated story! The crafting section contains step-by-step instructions, complete with beautiful colour photographs, showing how to make an entire farm with a range of needle-felted animals, people and buildings. The illustrated story takes those characters, animals and settings to tell a tale of a fun-filled day on the farm. Crafters may choose to make a couple of animals to supplement an existing farm set, but the entire farm is a wonderful project for an intergenerational group. Children can make simple items and animals, while adults can tackle more intricate projects. Throughout, experienced felter Rotraud Reinhard provides tips and tricks for working with felt and bringing colour and life to your farm.

Griswald is a little gnome who lives in the rain gutter. The one day, a storm washes him down the drainpipe into an old rain barrel. At first, Griswald is unsure about his new home, but soon he meets all the animals, birds and plants that live in the garden and has wonderful adventures with his new friends. Through the seasons, Griswald explores a whole new world in the garden, gets into sticky situations, helps his new companions and even learns to dance! Perfect for bedtime, each easy-to-read chapter tells a different story of Griswald's adventures and is filled with beautiful illustrations of lively gnomes and sprites, colourful plants and flowers, and characterful animals and birds. This delightful chapter storybook from Daniela Drescher, the much-loved creator of In the Land of Fairies and the Little Fairy series, will enchant and entertain children everywhere.

Race handmade boats, build an insect hotel and create wildflower Easter eggs, all while learning about the natural world -- whatever the weather. This practical and brightly illustrated book is packed with indoor and outdoor crafts and activities, plus fun facts, to entertain and engage curious children during the spring and summer months. All the activities encourage an exploration of nature, from streams and moss, to butterflies and dandelions. Children will love finding out about the natural world through play and creation whether at home or in the classroom. This wide-ranging book will provide inspiration for parents and teachers working with children aged four and up. Most activities can be enjoyed both individually and in groups.