As part of our summer homeschool lessons we decided to do a unit study on space and the solar eclipse. We have had such an amazing time learning about space! One of the products that I used when it came to fun, hands-on activities was The Craft-tastic String Art II Outer Space Kit from Timberdoodle. In fact, this product was such a huge hit that it made our list of top homeschool favorites for July!
Craft-tastic String Art II
String art, and arrangement of different colored threads that are strung between points to form geometric patterns or designs, and the first recorded use of straight lines to form curves was by Englishwoman Mary Everest Boole. She came up with the idea to use “curve stitching” to help make mathematical ideas more understandable to children.
As They Grow Up received this product in exchange for our honest opinion.
String Art II Outer Space Kit
For this review, we received The String Art II Outer Space kit. Many are familiar with the old way of creating string art which required the use of hammer and nails. Neither will be needed when using the String Art II Kit.
The Kit Includes
Inside the kit you’ll find everything you need to create art pieces to treasure for years to come. This kit comes with (3) 8.5″ square foam canvases with pre-stamped templates (rocket, planet & star), 3 card stock backings, 40 yards of thread, pins and instruction booklet.
Age Recommendation
The age recommendations on the kit are pretty spot on. This kit is recommended for ages 10. My six-year-old did create one with my help, but ultimately he was too young. He had a hard time with the motor skills required to keep the string from sliding off the pin. Instead, I opted to let him point to the pin he wanted me to wrap the string around next.
Davis, my ten-year-old got a little frustrated at times because his string would slip off the pins pretty easy, but in the end, he got it. It’s one of those crafts that definitely takes patience and fine motor skills.
The pre-stamped templates of the design very easy to follow. With it being stamped lightly, one can simply use their imagination to create their own design as well. To get started, they simply peeled the back off the enclosed cardstock and placed it on the back of the foam canvas. 
With the pins in place, it’s time to start bringing it to life. The instruction booklet recommends certain colored strings for the different crafts, but once again they can mix and match the colors any way they choose.
When they started stringing the design I wasn’t sure how well the pins would stay in place, but I’m happy to report that the pins stayed in place just fine. Even times when they would have to take the thread off and redo an area.
All in all this is a product that we would highly recommend. Customers can purchase the String Art II Outer Space Kit as a standalone product or as part of the Timberdoodle 6th Grade Curriculum Kit.
