Meet Kinshoo Agrawal: DIY Craft Enthusiast and Mom Blogger

Bharat Sharma

20/08/2018



Art and craft is not just a creative hobbyy or skill, but a fantastic medium for self-expression. People who are into art and crafts as a hobby usually like to practice during their leisure time. However, there are people who actually like to take up their creative pursuits full-time and even make a living out of it!

We like to call such people – HobbyPreneurs. Today we’re sharing the personal story of one such hobbypreneur who’s chosen a new creative path in life after her motherhood journey began.

Meet Kinshoo Agrawal – a DIY craft enthusiast and mommy blogger who likes to practice her favorite hobby while balancing work and life as a mother. Team MillionCenters got in touch with the artistic side of Kinshoo Agrawal and decided to share her inspiring journey with us!

Some people really know how to make cool things using different materials. For the rest of us, let’s get to know Kinshoo’s journey and experience as a mom blogger cum hobbypreneur -

Hi Kinshoo! Thanks for contributing, can you start by telling us a little about yourself and you your family?

I am an MBA graduate and now a full-time mom to my son. I have been blogging during my college and first job days about marketing tactics. Now after becoming a mother, I am discovering a new side of me as a Mom Blogger. I have always been interested in arts and crafts, but in between studies and work, the hobbies fade away. I feel lucky and thankful to my son for helping me practicing my lost interests through DIYs.

My husband and I are living an expat life in UAE currently with our son. Away from family, though we do have couple of friends here from India and those belonging to different nationalities as well. Expat life has both challenges and opportunities. Trying our best to balance all and give the best for our son.

What kind of activities, both indoor and outdoor, do you usually enjoy with your kid and why do you love DIY crafts?

My son enjoys water colors especially hand and foot painting since he was a year old. With age, we are learning to use crayons, sketch pens as well. Along with that some sticking crafts, or cardboard crafts, clay doh also. Outdoor activities mostly include cycling, football, playing with friends in park, bubbles, and trips to super market and cake shop.

The reason I love DIY crafts is we get to explore our imaginative side. Sometimes my boy tells me to make something and then we both will try new creations. So much fun, so much to learn, so many memories and art works to preserve. Easy availability is my favorite reason ;)

What are some of the ways that you think kids benefit from DIY hobbies?

DIY activities are hands-on learning tools with no limit to learning and creativity. Plus when a child creates or builds anything, he/she develops a sense of achievement (I love that grin on my boy’s face) and confidence as well as refines their sensory, motor and reasoning skills.

Thus, by learning a DIY hobby or activity, every child can get better at developing creative thinking, improving self-expression and gaining a fun outlet to stay occupied.

Related: Why every Kid must have a Hobby in Life

What are some of the impactful changes and improvements that you have seen in your kid’s overall personality and intellectual/emotional development through DIY activities?

My boy is a hyperactive kid and craft or coloring calms him down (I used them as my biggest distracting tools) and has taught my child patience. His logical reasoning and understanding of practical aspects has improved with few crafts like creating car parking, magic milk, clay doh etc. He enjoys doing crafts and coloring in school also. He loves to show off his master piece(s) to everyone in the family.

How helpful have these DIY activities been in strengthening the bond between your toddler and you?

We both love these DIY craft activities, though sometimes it becomes difficult to make him understand why he needs to wait till color dries or why he can’t throw colored rice on floor or why he can’t paint a cow red (facepalm moment); but I guess that’s the best learning phase for him and for me too (more patience and tolerance for me).

Soon I realized, I should not be bothered about the outcome, but focus on the process and the end result that I have a HAPPY kid, who learned something new or entertained himself with craft!

Whenever you plan a DIY activity do you have a certain aim in mind or a specific learning that you want to impart to your kid? Please share few examples for our readers.

When I plan to teach him shapes with few felt and foam shapes, I would be repeating the names of shapes while sticking the felt or fixing the foam on respective places, so that he gets an idea what is a circle – both name and shape.

DIY jigsaw puzzles are to improve hand-eye coordination and visual-perceptive skills. Of course, I keep the level of expectation to ZERO, so as not to pressurize either of us and mostly enjoy the exercise, which is my main aim behind DIY learning.

Repetitions and continuous practice is what enforces the notions. Kids surprise us by their grasping skills and would show off their wisdom when you least expected them to.

Can you share your top DIY craft ideas for toddlers?

Felt book, clay doh and cardboard crafts have been my favorite – endless possibilities, easy-to-make, low cost, minimum efforts and most important –no heart-breaks when toddler tears them apart (LOL).

Get Involved with the baby and don’t expect him/her to get fascinated all the time, a DIY might be a turn-down also. Most Important – Be Prepared!

Patience and Tolerance are the keys for a DIY activity with young kids. They might get over excited or not excited at all. So, you must keep that in mind as a parent who wants to raise a creative child.

Also Read: 5 Hobbies your Toddler will love

What are some easy DIY craft activities that parents can try with their little kids, using objects that can be easily found in one’s home?

Tissue rolls, tissue boxes, cardboard boxes, cereal boxes, foam sheets, thermocol sheets, plastic bottles/cups, popsicles/sticks, pom-poms, paper plates etc. I have become hoarder of such stuff– because there are literally tons of things can be constructed - elephant, fish, octopus, dinosaurs, lion, shapes, alphabets, cars, house, face masks, puppets…if you can imagine it, you can make it!

Even old cloths can be used to make activity books. If nothing is available, freeze his favorite dinosaur (or any animal) and let him discover the buried dino. Magic milk experiment is easy-to-do too. Just drop food color in milk, and dip cotton swab in dish soap and touch the colors; you will love the way colors explode in milk and form patterns. Slime, clay-doh, cloud dough can be prepared at home with recipes available online.

Just keep few basic stationary items handy like - good scissors, glue, tape, colors, colored papers, brushes, etc. and your life is sorted! Plus, i regularly write about interesting DIY activities for kids that parents can pick up easily.

What is your little one’s favorite DIY activity?

Water colors are his favorite; hand and foot painting has always been a hit. He went crazy after the Magic Milk experiment and wanted to do it every day!

According to you, what are the top 3 reasons parents should engage in more DIY craft activities with their kids?

The first and foremost reason for encouraging kids to have a hobby is because of the beautiful memories that we create in those moments. When I look at those tiny handprint dinosaur and duck, I re-live those few magic minutes of pure bliss.

Secondly, the child imbibes more with observation and experiment. When he rolls a clay ball or drops a ball through tissue roll, he understands the concepts and cause-effect in a more practical manner. He becomes more aware of his senses and refines his fine motor and sensory skills.

Thirdly, DIY activities are easy when the child is set free to practice his fantasies and ideas.

This promotes creative thinking and innovative aptitude right from childhood.

Ultimately, we don’t need to raise book-worms; we should nurture thinkers, inventors, visionaries. And that is what exactly a DIY hobby intends to foster in kids.

Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us! We totally agree with you on the fact that we don’t need more engineers and doctors but we need more creative and innovative thinkers. All the Best for your journey!

To stay updated with Kinshoo’s blog, social posts and much more, don’t forget to follow her -

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