About Jellyfish Jelly

Creative Kids

Jellyfishjelly is the work of Miya Maeda.

My work is intended to be a simple guide for non-crafty, “creatively-challenged” parents.  The concept behind this site arose from what I perceived to be the near universal need for parents of small children to find novel and challenging activities to occupy what can sometimes seem like a very long day.

I have a Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art from Curtin University and over 10 years’ experience working in the visual arts industry. Besides my training and interests, the real catalyst for creating this blog came with the birth of my 2 children.

Like most new parents I was stunned, and somewhat dismayed, to discover that life at home with small children was not the Anne Geddes postcard I always assumed it would be. Days were comprised of the usual highs and lows that accompany children and their by-products. But most of all, the days were long. So I did what every mother, desperate for adult conversation, does: I joined a playgroup.

Upon joining Possum Pals Playgroup I was startled to discover that I wasn’t alone; everyone else battled with the same issues as I did. The other important discovery was that I was really good at something – I exceled when it was my turn to do the ‘craft activity’. Other mothers seemed to view their turn at craft, like an impending surgery appointment. Some claimed they’d rather cut up the morning tea for a year straight than come up with a craft. Others spent outrageous amounts of time and money on elaborate craft kits that the kids would invariably destroy.

All we want to do is keep the kids occupied with a minimum of mess, fuss and expense. Through Jellyfishjelly I am endeavouring to provide clever ideas on exactly how to do that.

Thank you for visiting. Don’t forget to check out ‘My Project Gallery’ over there on the right of screen. There you will find images and links to all my posted projects. Even more ideas can be found in my Ebook. Happy viewing!

Miya

PS. Occasionally I receive requests to teach at craft centres and the like. I should point out that, while I would love to go to New York/Chicago/Dallas and so forth, I am actually in Perth, Western Australia. The commute would kill me! But thanks anyway…