Designed to appeal to boys, Paracord Wristbands involve macramé-type weaving with thick parachute cord. It comes with eight colors, buckles, stickers, scissors, glue, and clear instructions. There are enough supplies to make eight wristbands. Marked for 7 & up, but we think most boys of seven will not have the dexterity to do this. We'd say it's a better choice for 8-9's.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2013.

All the makings for six sparkly necklaces. Kids construct the layers of the butterflies with adhesives to make  3-D charms that hang on the premade necklace cords. There's enough in this kit for a small birthday party craft activity that can go home as a party favor. Just right for 7's and up with a little help from adults. A nice choice for a princess or hello, spring party. Also a good choice for a play date or two. 7 & up.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2013.

A colorful collection of printed papers, interesting images, colored paper, backing boards, fabrics, glues, scissors, frames and an idea book for creating original art. It is a treasure box full of goodies with an open-ended approach for learning about creative composition and design. A good choice for 7 year olds and up.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2013.

Enough supplies for making over 200 paper beads! A splendid kit for learning the technique for making big and little paper beads with colorful patterned, solid colored papers. The kit includes two tools for making the beads, gel cord, paper flowers, seed beads, sequins, varnish, paint brush and stencils for making more bead papers. 7 & up.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2013. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Often the directions determine if a kit works well or not. In this case kids get clear step-by-step instructions for making colorful bracelets, necklaces, key chains, headband, and even a belt! The kit comes with a 200+ feet of cord, a generous supply, as well as colorful beads, hooks, key ring, plus glue and scissors. Great choice for play dates or solo craft time. This is one of those perennial crafts that develops fine motor skills and rewards patience with finished products that kids can use. Marked 7 & up, but we'd say it's a better bet for slightly older kids with more dexterity.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2013.

The "X" design of this new sticker maker makes for a fun modern piece of room decor. And even better, it's very easy to use. The set comes with many sets of premade art for coloring in (including a page of velvet-shaped art), but from our point of view we loved that you can make your own stickers from photographs or things you find in magazines. Comes with markers, a sticker journal, pre-made shapes and one refill. Additional refills are available from the company for $7.95.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2013. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

We're big fans of 3D wonder paint. It's great fun to make the designs and then decorate your windows with them. Our biggest problem is that we never wait long enough to let it dry so we always have one that is smushed a bit. This kit comes with six glitter paints (some are intended as liners), suggested traceable patterns, 2 plastic project sheets (where you place the glitter paint), self-adhesive rhinestones and instructions. You can either attach your snowflakes to the window or make 3D ornaments that can be hung up with the included satin ribbon. We had less success with the new Activity Kit -- that is intended for making 3D flowers. Ours just didn't work out very well.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2013.

A really satisifying kit for adding some light and sparkle to any room. Comes with three battery powered (batteries included) round clear plastic globe bulbs that have faceted surfaces. The set comes with plastic leaves, shimmering fabrics, beads, self-adhesive rhinestones, thread, double-sided sticky foam, a bead threader and an instruction book with ideas.  Comes with green satin cords to hang the lights up with. Very pretty and our testers liked that the bulbs have three different settings for varying d

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2013.

A loom for making something special you can really wear...naturally this craft kit made a huge hit with our tween tester. What you get is a knitting loom with 2 rows of 12 pegs. It’s not hard and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. You just wind the yarn in a zig-zag fashion going back and forth. The end product is great and even better when you buy a heavier yarn and make another one or more. 10 & up, up, up.

Age: Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2012. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

A four-piece porcelain set that can be painted with original designs. The set comes with a cup, liquid soap dispenser, four-place toothbrush holder and soap dish. The permanent paint dries in the air, no baking needed, though you will want to protect the work surface and clothes of young artists. This is not a craft kit for young children, since the pieces are breakable. Older kids can paint the pieces and give them to grandparents, teacher, or for their own bathroom. 8 & up.

Age: Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2012.