GIANT Encyclopedia of Arts & Craft Activities: Over 500 Art and Craft Activities Created by Teachers for Teachers »

Kathy Charner has been with Gryphon House for over 15 years. She is the editor of several books including: The GIANT Encyclopedia of Learning Center Activities; The GIANT Encyclopedia of Circle Time Activities; The GIANT Encyclopedia of Art & Craft Activities; The GIANT Encyclopedia of Science Activities; and The GIANT Encyclopedia of Activities for Four-Year-Olds.

A comprehensive collection of the best art and craft activities for young children.

Children's Literature

This comprehensive encyclopedia is a preschool teacher's dream come true! The activities are organized by topics or themes, such as: air, alphabet, bears, circus, colors, dinosaurs, health, famous artists, holidays, music, zoo animals, etc. The table of contents is wellorganized, so that the busy teacher can easily find a project related to a particular theme or concept. The appropriate age is listed next to the activity in the table of contents as well as on the activity page. The materials used are easily found and are often recyclable. Many of the activities are openended, allowing for exploration and discovery by the child. There are also many activities for ages 5 and up which can be used in the early elementary classroom. Each activity has extensions into other curriculum areas such as math and science, and all suggest related books to accompany the activity. Even as a tenyear veteran of the preschool classroom, I found some unusual and intriguing activities in this book. One was making a guitar from Styrofoam meat trays and rubber bands; and another was making rainsticks with cardboard mailing tubes, aluminum foil, and sand. This book is fourth in the "Giant Encyclopedia" series of books for teachers of young children. 2000, Gryphon House, Ages 5 up, $29.95. Reviewer: Cheryl Peterson