Project Kid

Starred review from March 3, 2014
This excursion into childhood’s dream world—where a spool with a ribbon remnant can become a balloon and cotton balls can make juice-box owls fly—is not a typical kids’ craft book. Kingloff tells parents the grocery store is “no longer about shopping for oatmeal and crackers,” but “about finding materials to make bongo drums or a miniature village.” She explores the joys of felt, which doesn’t fray when cut by little hands, and the fun of pipe cleaners, which she touts as the earliest type of wire for very young crafters. Kingloff, a former lifestyle editor at Parents magazine, shows how to turn the old toilet-tissue tube into a sturdy train complete with hole-punched passenger windows. Joiner-biscuit butterflies take wing, and K-cups are transformed into a set of door chimes suitable for adult display. The emphasis is clearly on the home, but there are clear applications for classrooms, day care, and the enterprising babysitter needing to answer the “I’m bored” whine. Hardly just a rainy-day project compendium, this is work to keep brains busy and families happy. 400 photos.