Mummy Knows Best

Learning stencils for kids

I like the idea of birthday and baby shower registries. Some say it’s too impersonal, I say it’s practical. How personal are gifts these days anyway, everything is off the shelf. I have a cupboard full of make-a-necklace sets and DIY wall stickers that my daughter is not going to bother with. If only I had been asked! So when my cousin called to ask if Ally was into crafts, I said yes in a second. She had found a set of Animal Stencil Books by Armadillo Books.

What a treat it was to receive them. All the books were animal themed, yet each of the four were different. The pack included pet animals, wild animals, farm animals and exotic animals. Being spiral bound, it was easy to use each sheet flat on paper. We made squirrels sitting on a bed of hearts and we filled stars in the outline of a cat. The latest thing we have started doing is making stencil cut outs to add as labels or cards on gifts. Some of the stencil masterpieces are going in our crafts scrapbook and some Ally would like to give away to her school teachers and grandparents as bookmarks and stickers.

Stencilling helps kids learn dexterity and it encourages concentration. You can see them biting their little lips to make sure the pencil doesn’t slip. And of course the sense of accomplishment is tripled with the dog they intended to draw turned out to look exactly like a dog!

Manufactured by Armadillo Books and priced at Rs.199 for a pack of 6. Stencil sets are available at high end stationary stores across the city. In Delhi you can find them at Rio Grande, M Block market, Greater Kailash I, Delhi and in Gurgaon at Landmark, DLF Grand Mall.