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3-D Art Lab for Kids Book Review

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarry Books. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Today I get to review a wonderful new art/craft book for kids. Quarry Books was kind enough to send me a copy of Susan Schwake's 3-D Art Lab for Kids: 32 Hands-on Adventures in Sculpture and Mixed Media. This is the third Art Lab book by Susan Schwake. The book has seven chapters. The first two are about setting up and the tools you will need. Chapters 3 through 7 are for different medias: Paper, Clay, Textiles, Sculpture, and Jewelry. At the end of most of these chapters they have a visit from an artist in that media. Most of the projects also have a little bit about an artist who makes similar art.


We decided to try the Nature Weave found in Chapter 5: Textiles. The instructions were easy to follow and we had the materials around the house (though I had trouble finding sticks because apparently Steve got rid of Hazel's stick collection). Hazel loves to try to weave though she tires of it quickly. She was very excited to do this project. She helped cut the yarn and ribbons and weave. I tied the warp yarn on to the sticks and helped her get started and did the weaving when she tired of it. Then she choose where to put the nature items into it and I hot glued them on for her.
The book has some great ideas for projects which would be even better for slightly older kids than Hazel (age 5). However it was fun to do this project together and she loves it! I hung it in her bedroom so she could see it all the time and she asked if we could make another one.




The exciting thing about this book is each project is unique and can be done over and over resulting in something new. Some of the projects create fun things and others useful and some both. It has so many different ideas and ways to go that it will lead to lots of fun and creative time.


3-D Art Lab for Kids is available at Quarry Books and Amazon. The suggested retail price is $24.99 in the U.S, $27,99 in Canada and 16.99 in the United Kingdom. (Sorry I don't know where the pound symbol is.) If you are looking for a way to add art to your child's live as well as get his or her (or their) creative juices flowing, this book will definitely be a wonderful start!