Marilyn Scott-Waters

The Toymaker is the creation of artist Marilyn Scott-Waters, intended as an online craft resource for children. Projects include cards, drawings, paper dolls, and other printable creations. Scott-Waters has created an aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate website to accompany her project, and her vision sustains itself on every page. She also includes several of her stories, varying in length and probably best suited for young readers that have graduated beyond picture books. Her stories also include accompanying craft projects.
Some of her crafts are accompanied by a cutesy how-to video, short and easy for children to understand and remain engaged. One video on how to make paper butterflies features a “bored” toy puppy (that appears in more than one video), who is looking for a friend. The puppy’s voice is mildly grating and obviously created by Scott-Waters, and her choice to have him speak while she instructs is questionable at best. The crafts themselves, however, are fun and interesting, and there are plentiful options for a child to choose from. Educators may want to borrow some of her ideas for school projects or parents might want to collect some of her suggestions for a rainy day.… (mer)