Let’s Craft String Art Pictures || Fun with Jungle Friends Review

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive compensation if you make a purchase using one of these links.

String Art Pictures combines preschool fine motor skills with an appreciation for making a prized piece of artwork, with a fun twist. We tried out Let’s Craft Jungle Friends and here’s what we thought.

While recommended for the age range of 3-5, the Let’s Craft Jungle Friends String Art box says 4+. I think many three-year-olds are capable of joining in the fun with some assistance. Older than 5 may find the pictures too simple, but it might depend on your child’s interests.

My daughter is 4 years old and in Pre-K. She has used a variety of string and lacing activities before but was excited that this kit offers a fresh experience.

jungle friends string art pictures

 

 

What are String Art Pictures?

Unlike most string art/lacing cards, these are not designed to be reusable, but rather to create a finished piece of art to hang up and admire.

string art box

This kit is created by the company “Let’s Craft” and includes 4 pre-punched sturdy string art boards, 50 meters of different colored yarn, 2 plastic needles, 2 sheets of glitter stickers, 1 sheet of tape stickers to fasten the string to the boards, and 1 sheet of instructions.

string art pictures

String Art Skills

Young children use their pincher grasp and work those small finger muscles by threading the needle over and over, helping them develop skills needed to learn how to write properly.

Each picture board has over 50 holes to sew in and out of with the blunt plastic needles. Children can learn how to thread a needle, push a needle through a hole, pull string through, and practice the spatial concepts of “up”, “down”, “over”, and “under”. These pictures have more holes than a standard preschool lacing card, and works on increasing a child’s attention and concentration skills.

needle and yarn with string art

Each picture also comes with glittery foam stickers to embellish the final piece of artwork. The instruction sheet shows which stickers belong on which design, and whether they are a precise piece, such as hands or feet, or a more creative element like stripes, which the child can place wherever they desire on the animal.

My daughter was very excited to see the stickers and immediately wanted to put the monkey’s hands and feet on. It adds a creative element of glitz and glamour that kids love!

adding stickers to string art

Your child’s unique abilities will determine how well they acclimate to these string art pictures. Children who have longer attention spans and love lacing/sewing may be able to complete a whole picture in one sitting.

My daughter does about 5 stitches at a time. Sometimes I’m able to encourage her to keep working on it, but she loses interest in repetitive movements quickly. That’s not to say she doesn’t enjoy them or ask for them — she totally does. She just likes to do it in small chunks at a time.

Part of her struggle is that she has a hard time figuring out when to go up or down with the needle. On her own, she gets the string wrapped around the board by going the wrong direction. When she discovers this, the whining begins as she loses patience. If I sit with her and help her figure out which direction to go, it helps, but she still gets frustrated that it takes such intense focus and attention for her.

What We Love About Jungle Friends String Art

I love that they include a sheet of clear stickers to secure the yarn each time you start or end a strand. This eliminates the need to make knots and tie off the ends, which is tricky when the holes are so big. It’s nice that the kit comes with 2 plastic needles so multiple children could do cards at the same time, or if one happens to get lost.

The instruction sheet is very helpful as it’s clear, shows examples, and directs which stickers match which animals.

string art instructions

My daughter has done various lacing and stringing activities in the past, but none have had the end purpose of a piece of finished artwork, so we found that to be a fun motivator. She was also very excited about the additional glitter stickers.

This is a pretty substantial kit for preschool or Pre-K age children, which I love! It could definitely be fun for Kindergarteners as well, but they will likely have more patience and finish more quickly. I like that we will be using this kit for weeks to come and can use it to improve skills and have a variety of art activities in our day.

The two plastic needles are perfect for little hands and we will be able to use them for other stringing/lacing cards that we have after these pictures are completed. There is a lot of yarn included as well, so there is plenty to finish all the cards. Some colors could logically match the colors on the cards, but some don’t, so that could be left up to artist’s choice.

string and needles

What We Didn’t Love About String Art

Speaking from my daughter’s perspective, string art and lacing aren’t her most-loved activities. However, I believe they are important skills she needs to learn, and increased attention to the task at hand is valuable, even if the child doesn’t agree!

I can understand that from her viewpoint, the repetitive actions become tedious, but it’s important that she do them anyway. It does help that the pictures are silly and colorful and there is a good variety.

Final Thoughts on Jungle Friends String Art Pictures

Working in small chunks of time meant that for us, it took almost two weeks to complete just one picture. I’m sure this is not the case for everyone! Regardless, both the process of sewing and the finished artwork pieces are worthwhile.

sewing

 

Related Articles on Homeschooling:

WANT TO SAVE LET’S CRAFT STRING ART PICTURES FOR LATER? PIN TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD HERE:

string art pictures

Let’s Craft String Art Pictures || Fun with Jungle Friends Review

Similar Posts

One Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *