Thinking inside the box: Fancy Fun’s themed craft boxes for kids
Messy hands and beaming faces are the crafty results of a Fancy Fun box created by Meg Ferris, a former teacher and mother of a young daughter with a zest for imagination. These boxes—each with a different theme—feature an array of activities for children to explore their creativity and boost their learning, all wrapped up in one neatly packaged kit.
“To me, this comes easily, being a teacher and having a young daughter,” says Ferris. “This isn’t in everybody’s wheelhouse, so it’s easy to have everything you need just in this one spot.”
In 2019, sparked by the usual flurry of Thanksgiving-related tasks, Ferris created an arts and crafts camp to entertain children while their parents set up for the holiday. The success of the camp led Ferris to host another for the Christmas holiday break, eventually slowing down as children went back to school.
“When the pandemic hit, I started thinking about how everyone’s stuck at home and they don’t know what to do with their kids,” says Ferris. “So then I started making these to-go boxes of crafts. Over the summer, I did hold a few more little camps outside, and at the end of summer, I tried to get back into the arts and crafts stuff with a box themed around Halloween.”
But Ferris’ favorite box remains her “home-gate” creation, centered around LSU gameday.
“I had four tiger eye canvases, paint, paint brushes, poms-poms and miniature foam fingers,” says Ferris. “I had plates, cups and napkins—everything for you to throw at your kids so you can watch the game.”
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This holiday season, Fancy Fun will feature a Christmas-themed box including a blank canvas, a wooden nutcracker, jewel stickers, a bracelet kit and supplies to make “reindeer food.”
Not a bad way to take a break from the screen in this digital age, right?
“I think it’s great because it’s just a nice creative outlet for them,” says Ferris. “And it’s helpful for parents too!”
Look out for Fancy Fun themed boxes at Giggles, or message Ferris on Instagram at @campfancyfun.
