Dow Offers Suggestions for a New Tradition: Family Craft Night

Editor's Note:  High-Resolution Photography is Available

MIDLAND, MI – Family time is precious time; it seems there’s never enough time for those we love. How can you carve out the time you need for a meaningful activity with your family? The Dow Chemical Company, maker of STYROFOAM* brand foam, offers suggestions for creating a new family tradition – family craft night. Our time-tested tips below will help you make the most of your time together:

• Don’t let your schedule overwhelm you. Schedule a Family Craft Night as often as time allows – weekly, monthly, or just before big holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Valentine’s Day and Halloween. And, consider other times beside evenings, such as Saturday morning or afternoon.
• Use the Internet to quickly scan for craft project ideas. Many sites, such as www.styrofoamcrafts.com, offer free project instructions, complete materials lists and an estimated time needed for completion.
• Ask your children for input, and to avoid frustration (yours and the child’s), be sure the project is age appropriate. Offer several options, and let the child choose which project you will make. Or, alternate project selection between children.
• Alternate between group and individual projects. For example, one night everyone in the family can help build and decorate a gingerbread house made from STYROFOAM brand foam, and the following Family Craft Night, each person can make his or her own ornament.
• Customize the projects according to the child’s interest. If your child has a strong interest in outer space or the insect world, create a craft that reflects this. Or, it might be as simple as including the child’s favorite color.
• Incorporate materials from recent family outings, including seashells, tickets stubs, fall leaves or postcards.
• Review the instructions ahead of time and if time allows, create a sample. Kids will find a model extremely helpful when creating their own projects, and you will be able to anticipate any potential difficulties.
• Make sure you have enough materials and time to complete the project.
• If possible, prepare ahead and create a mini kit with all materials for each child.
• Create a safe and organized work area. Remove any objects that are fragile or valuable. Cover the work surface and floor with newspapers, plastic or an old sheet or tablecloth. Have chairs for everyone. You’ll find this advance prep makes clean up easier, too.
• Just in case, have handy a roll of paper towels or old rags to wipe up spills.
• Let your child wear one of your old T-shirts to protect his or her clothes. Or, for your first Family Craft Night, have each child paint an old T-shirt that will serve as a painting smock for future craft nights.
• Store glue upside-down in a tin can or plastic cup so the glue is at the tip and will squeeze out more easily. Use thick, tacky glue for a better hold and faster drying.
• To keep down costs, look around the house for extra items that will spark kids’ creativity – buttons, yarn, string, fabric scraps, paper, tin foil, etc. Start a stash of fun materials for future projects.
• Designate a showcase area in the home where the children can display their completed projects.
• Photograph each child with his or her creation, and create a photo album to document your new, Family Craft Night tradition.

For more ideas, visit project-packed www.styrofoamcrafts.com, where you’ll find dozens of ideas to feed children’s imaginations and fuel their creativity.

STYROFOAM brand products are identified by the "Start Here!" logo. Genuine STYROFOAM brand foam and STYROFOAM brand Gentle Grip* dry foam are manufactured exclusively by The Dow Chemical Company, the maker of the world’s finest plastic-foam products for creative endeavors. For more than 50 years, genuine STYROFOAM brand foam has been a tradition for all types of home décor accents, craft projects and floral designs, and is the brand four out of five crafters prefer. STYROFOAM brand Gentle Grip dry foam for delicate silk and dried flower stems firmly holds delicate stems without damaging them. STYROFOAM brand Gentle Grip dry foam is the preferred choice of professional floral designers, who rated it less dusty than other dry floral foams. For more information about STYROFOAM brand products, great project ideas, crafting tips and more, visit www.styrofoamcrafts.com.

Dow is a leading science and technology company that provides innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $33 billion, Dow serves customers in more than 180 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress, including food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its approximately 46,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities.

For more information,
Contact:
Sharon Currier
Floral & Craft Account Manager
scurrier@curriercomm.com

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®™^* Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") or an affiliated company of Dow
**STYROFOAM brand products are manufactured with HCFC blowing agents which have ozone depletion potentials that are 93.5% less than standard CFC blowing agents.