/arts-crafts

name: arts-crafts
description: Plan age-calibrated craft projects for kids ages 2-10 — supply list, step-by-step instructions, safety notes, mess level, prep time, variations, cleanup, and learning connections. Use whenever a teacher or parent asks for a classroom or home craft. Triggers on "craft for pre-k about fall leaves", "easter craft ideas for 2nd grade", "simple paper craft with my 5 year old", "thanksgiving class craft no scissors", "rainy day low-mess craft for 4 year old", "valentine's day craft for 20 second graders", "craft using only construction paper and glue", "mother's day kindergarten craft", "ocean animals 1st grade craft", "15-minute preschool craft", "earth day recycled-materials craft", "what can I make with my 3 year old", and similar K-5 / PreK project requests. Redirects copyrighted-character requests (Elsa, Bluey, Mickey, Pokémon) to the underlying theme. Does not fetch stock photos — uses italicized visual-description cues per step instead.

arts-crafts

Turn "what can we make today?" into a ready-to-run craft plan. Given a theme or occasion, produce a complete project plan — supplies, steps, safety, mess, prep, cleanup — calibrated to the age of the child or class. Default audience K-5 (ages 5-10); PreK (2-4) supported explicitly. A non-crafty adult can run it without further prep.

When to trigger

Use this skill whenever a user asks for a craft, project, or "make something" idea for a child or classroom. Teachers and parents phrase it many ways — trust the description keywords rather than a strict format. If the only thing missing is the age band, ask one clarifying question. Otherwise proceed with defaults.

Inputs

Parse these from the user's request:

• **Theme / occasion** — holiday, season, book, unit topic, animal, concept. Required (if missing, suggest two and pick one).
• **Age band** — `2-4` (PreK / toddler), `5-7` (K-2), `8-10` (3-5). Default `5-7` if unspecified.
• **Group size** — single child, small group (2-6), classroom (15-30). Default single/small.
• **Time budget** — total minutes (prep + activity). Default 30 min activity.
• **Available supplies** — optional constraint ("only construction paper and glue", "no scissors", "recycled only").
• **Mess tolerance** — `low` / `medium` / `high`. Default `medium`.
• **Setting** — home vs. classroom. Default home unless phrasing implies classroom.

Inferring age from phrasing (check before asking)

| Phrase in the request | Age band | |---|---| | "pre-k", "preschool", "toddler", "2-year-old", "3-year-old", "4-year-old", "daycare" | 2-4 | | "kindergarten", "kinder", "TK", "5-year-old", "1st grade", "2nd grade", "6-year-old", "7-year-old" | 5-7 | | "3rd grade", "4th grade", "5th grade", "8-year-old", "9-year-old", "10-year-old", "elementary" | 8-10 | | "my kid", "my class", "elementary classroom", no age cue | default 5-7 | | Spans ages (e.g. "my kids ages 3 and 7") | anchor on younger; add older-sibling variation |

If age is truly unclear and you can't infer, ask ONE question:

> Quick check — what age is this for? **PreK (2-4) · K-2 (5-7) · 3-5 (8-10)**

Do not stack questions. Do not ask about mess, supplies, group size, or time unless the user wants tight customization.

Output — required sections in this order

Every plan must include all 11 sections below. Instructions target the adult leading the activity, not the child.

1. **Project Name** — one line, kid-friendly, non-copyrighted. 2. **Age Range** — e.g. "Ages 5-7 (K-2)". 3. **Time** — prep time + activity time, separately (e.g. "5 min prep · 25 min activity"). 4. **Skill Level** — beginner / intermediate / advanced, calibrated to age. 5. **Mess Level** — low / medium / high, with a one-line reason ("uses wet glue and paint"). 6. **Supply List** — bulleted, with per-child quantities. Include substitutions inline ("white glue *or* glue stick"; "construction paper *or* cardstock"). 7. **Step-by-Step Instructions** — numbered, short sentences. Each step includes an *italicized visual-description cue* so a non-crafty adult can picture it without photos (e.g. _"Fold the paper in half like a book."_). 8. **Safety Notes** — scissors type, hot glue, small parts, allergens, supervision level. 9. **Variations / Extensions** — 2-3 ways to adapt up/down in difficulty or extend the activity. 10. **Cleanup Tips** — specific to materials used (wet vs. dry, paint vs. markers). 11. **Learning Connections** — what skill or concept this reinforces (fine motor, symmetry, color mixing, storytelling, pattern recognition, seasonal vocabulary, environmental awareness, etc.).

For group size ≥ 10, include a short "prep-at-scale" note inside Supply List or a final "Classroom Notes" line: what to pre-cut, pre-sort, or station-ize.

Workflow

1. Parse inputs; infer age from the table above; fill defaults. 2. Select a project concept matching theme + age + constraints. For novel themes, generate; for standard themes, anchor on `references/catalog.md`. 3. Match constraints (supplies / mess / time / group). If a constraint conflicts with the obvious project ("no scissors" + "paper snowflakes"), propose a nearby alternative and explain the swap in one line. 4. Calibrate instructions: short sentences and tear/stick/stamp verbs for 2-4; cut-on-lines and simple folds for 5-7; multi-step assembly for 8-10. Use `references/fine-motor.md` to sanity-check that every step is physically achievable. 5. Run the safety pass against `references/safety.md`: scissors type by age, hot glue flagged adult-operated, small parts for <3, allergens in edible crafts. 6. Render the 11-section markdown plan. Always include supply substitutions (load `references/substitutions.md`) and a stated mess level.

Age calibration

| Age band | Motor skills | Example activities | Avoid | |---|---|---|---| | **2-4 (PreK)** | Large-motor, pincer grasp developing. Tear, stick, finger-paint, stamp, dip. | Handprint turkeys, torn-paper collages, finger-paint leaves, sticker scenes,