My parents, Margaret and Cameron John Yerian were prolific and well-known authors of children’s books on a variety of subjects.  In the early 70’s, they had an idea that proved to be not only brilliant but also very successful – to create a series of “book-of-the-month-club” series featuring fun activities for children.

They began collecting kid’s activities using my brother and I as their “crash test dummies!”  Many were classic games and crafts, like mime, or macramé.  Some focused on new and evolving areas of study like game theory or organic gardening (yes – even way back then!).  All had an element of discovery and fun.

They had one rule:  All of the activities required active participation or as they said “DO”-ing. The activities use common, inexpensive (often discarded) items that were and are still available in most households. Upcycling was a part of the books before the word existed.  In many ways I feel my parents were way ahead of their time.

Kids around the world enjoyed the original book series in a variety of iterations. My family continued to be contacted for additional volumes for many many years.

Even at the young age of 12, they retained me as an Editorial Assistant. The series eventually went out of print. Through the years, I have shared the volume of these books and activities with kids and school libraries. To this very day, they continue to be used in a variety of home, learning and school environments.  My personal favorites involve nature and science.

Cameron John and Margaret A. Yerian

Today, the books continue as “Kids Creative Activities”. They continue to emphasize the positive value of recycling and adaptive re-use or upcycling. Many activities, although relatively simple, sew the seeds of life skills that will extend and expand into adulthood! Most of all, they’re still fun!

I continue my parents commitment and passion to children by adding history and additional informational to many of the books in their new digital format. Within this website, you’ll discover many new and exciting activities for free!

There is always more fun and discovery to share and I’m certain that my parents would desire to make that available for each new book released.

Kids Creative Activities Books are designed for involvement – like I said above – “To DO!” The books can stand alone or can be mixed and matched.  Like children’s building blocks, the activities and information can be arranged and rearranged in a variety of ways.

All it take is a child’s imagination!

Phoebe

“Chief Kid at Heart”

p.s. In my 50-something years, I’m continuously reminded of one fact:  Nothing is as important as fostering creativity.  Creativity and curiosity are a child’s best friends.  Combine that with education that is FUN, and you have a terrific “incubator” to develop your children’s brilliance.

Here’s what you can look forward to Kids Creative Activities; a wide range of subject areas:

Cooking

Magic

Arts and Crafts

Collecting

Theatre Arts

Science Fun

Sewing

Exercise

Gardening

Games

Pets

Toys

Communication

…and others.

The primary audience for KCA are kids from 6 to 12.  They continue to be of great interest to younger children, however – keep this in mind:  Younger kids may need to be helped by an older child or supervised by an adult in some instances.

The activities are designed to incorporate concepts of safety and responsibility as much as possible throughout the books.  They are fun and educationally sound tools for living.

Some cool activities are as follows:

Butterfly net

Disguises

Baked potato dinner

Making a bug keeper

Sewing a stuff sack

Your own secret code

Sand castles

Pocket Rockets

Garbage can archeology

Indian sign language

Growing herbs

Puppet stage

Making a flute

Burr people

 

Training your dog

A sock puppet

Hiking

Mapping your neighborhood

Bicycle safety

Recoding your friends

Batik club flag

Growing sprouts

Little pizzas

 

Macramé pet leash

Big checkers

Hermit crab races

Clown make-up

Neighborhood pet census

Scenery for a play

Organizing your books

Newspaper tree

Sandwiches with faces

Thumb piano

Kitchen science experiments

Yard sale

Clown costume

Displaying collections

Dividing & grouping

Magic Tricks

Eye of God

Egg carton botany

Travel games

A Sheet collection

A travel case for your cat

Tie dying a tee shirt

Can stilts

Backyard safari

Making a telephone

Outdoor cooking

 

Shadow games

Races & relays

College

Monster make-up

Panty hose octopus

Magic lemon writing

Bonsai trees

Foraging for food

Blindfold tour

Leak prints

Rubbings