Following directions (crafts, cooking, etc.) is an excellent way to practice reading and comprehension skills – if the result looks good, then you followed the directions well!
Plaid Kids’ Crafts has daily craft posts on their blog, as well as an email newsletter. Plaid Enterprises makes craft supplies, so many of the posts name specific products. However, any good crafter knows that you can always find a substitute.
Nick Jr. has crafts and recipes for preschool-age children, so the directions are some of the simplest to follow.
Martha Stewart’s website also has many ideas for kids’ crafts, and Disney/ABC has sections on their family site for both crafts and cooking.
For cooking with kids, Spatulatta has both print and video recipes. I recommend using both forms where possible as a way to check your English understanding – students who use more than one way of learning the information can also speed up their language learning.
Cooking With Kids includes much more than just the recipes, but one drawback is that it also refers frequently to several books by the site’s author. Their handy icons helps children focus on the different kinds of information in a recipe.
I can’t end without mentioning one of my favorite blogs, although it doesn’t have the crafting directions that this post focuses on: Playing by the Book is written by a UK mother of two young children. Most posts begin with a book review, and then discusses a craft activity inspired by the book. Happily, many of the UK resources can also be accessed in the US. For example, I try to catch the KidLit on the Radio programs on my smartphone or computer using TuneIn. Added bonus: she has frequent book giveaways!
P.S. If you make a mistake and end up with a mess, you can always submit the results to CraftFail! 😉
