One of my daughters (they just turned 6yo yesterday, btw) has an artistic flair, and it's kind of inspired me lately. I haven't done anything other than helping her draw (which I used to be great at) and color (which is still fun), but it's been a long time since I've sat down with a small artistic project.

Whatever I make, I'd like to keep. I considered buying a coloring book, but then realized I'd have little interest in keeping anything I did (and I'd feel bad throwing them out when I was done). Maybe I could find one of those fuzzy felt pictures to color with markers.

I think putting a model together would be fun, too. But it would need to be one that isn't overly complicated, doesn't require painting (I really don't want to buy a bunch of paints I'll likely use just once, plus I was never very good with painting) and doesn't have too many decals (just a few or even none would be ok).

I also think the key to making something I'll want to keep is the object itself. It would have to be something I've had a long-term emotional attachment to. Maybe something like Star Trek, especially Mr. Spock (his occasional battles between logic & emotion really hit home for me).

So, anyone have any suggestions?

Perhaps a Star Trek diorama? It's not anything you have to paint, you just grab a bunch of memorabilia/toys and make a scene out of 'em. Plus, your daughters would probably enjoy playing with it.
Happy birthday to your kids, by the way.

Do something small, simple and peculiar, something you won't have to showcase every now and then to others or, even better, something that fits inside some sorta "time capsule" of yours. Trust me on this.
Let it hidden somewhere.

I honestly believe it's the best way to keep something fresh. And oh, picture (and print the image!) you and her actually doin' it together and pack the photo aswell. Did it once, the thing emerged some years later and it seemed unique.

Do it! :P

C ya!

Seeing your from the states, hit up Michaels. Walk around and get ideas then come back with your daughter and see what she gravitates towards. Also Batman.

Well, this ended up being a waste. I saw this "Fascinations Metal Earth 3D Laser Cut Model - Scorpion" in a craft store at a decent price, thought it looked like it would be fun...it wasn't.

Indeed the metal etching is awesome looking. But the metal is so flimsy that I bent the very first piece (part of a claw) as I was trying to remove it from the sheet and wasn't able to flatten it back out properly. No matter, I went ahead and tried to remove the second piece (another part of the same claw) with the same difficulties. I don't have fat fingers, but the pieces just seemed so small in my hands that I wasn't able to bend them properly or get the tabs into the slots (and the claws are among the largest of the pieces). After several minutes invested just in trying to get those first two pieces together, I gave up & threw the whole thing out.

I would only recommend these models if you are certain you have the manual dexterity to do something so small. If it were double the size, I don't think it would nearly as difficult. Speaking of "Difficulty," I wish it were listed on the package...instead, I was only able to find it on the official website (which listed this scorpion as "Medium"). I likely would have tried an "Easy" one first, but the company's website doesn't even give an option to sort by difficulty.

Again, it looks awesome on the package & the etching is equally as impressive, but this just seemed much more difficult than it should have been.

(My daughter, however, was quite happy with the beads & safety pins she got)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw5ETGiiBRg

There are some good snap together Gundam models made from colored plastics I had a lot of fun with those.
There are some good snap together Gundam models made from colored plastics I had a lot of fun with those.

Oh man I've done 4 of those bastards (Huey,dragonfly,train,tractor). They would be so much better to put together if they were just bigger. Don't blame you for throwing it out, very fiddly things to do. You need some Lego :D

I'd love to be able to make a Mr. Spock out of Legos...wouldn't know where to begin.

If you are interested in getting into electronics, you could try getting something like an arduino kit. (Of course, there is still the problem of figuring out what to make with it.)

I've been looking into making props for my tabletop RPGs lately. Maybe you could think up something similar? Fat Dragon Games has nice DIY terrain models that you can print on cardstock and assemble.

I think I'd like to do some kind of pop art piece I could hang on my wall. I don't entirely trust myself to use paint, crayons, or marker to apply the colors evenly, so maybe cutting pieces of pre-colored cardstock or something and then assembling them like puzzle pieces? Suggestions?

Did some of that at college - using photocopies on acetate cels and then quished around a bunch of paint on the back of them. Good fun, messy, worked out nicely too. you could easily do the same with card or paper (like you're considering) - or even plasticine. hell, you could get the photo copies and colour them in with crayons!

Maybe take a famous gaming image and do it that way.

Edit... though that reminds me...

Do bead spriting! Like all the cool kids do!