Westfield resident Dawn Dec is taking children back to basics with her online business, Craft-A-Gram. Instead of high-tech toys or mindless video games, Dec is selling crafting kits and party favors to encourage creativity among today's youth.

With the message "Send Some Fun" the 44-year-old Dec, who spent 15 years marketing children's candy, games and toys, has created themed crafting kits for children ages five through 12.

"It's a more wholesome gift or activity for kids," she said. "Kids love to receive mail, and it's about playing and learning—having kids do more with their imagination than master the latest Nintendo game."

All of Dec's 36 crafts feature non-licensed products, and the kits range from $24.99 to 29.99. Each kit comes pre-wrapped and features a personal message from the sender. Her party favor kits are $7 each, and come in sets of five, with a small craft and natural snack included.

For young girls there is a "Sweet Hearts" crafting kit, and for boys there is a "Nuts & Bolts" building kit. Dec also launched Craftivity, a quarterly magazine that she likens to the popular children's publication, Highlights.

"It's a tool to extend their crafting," she said of the magazine, which is included in each Craft-A-Gram mailing. "It provides a learning quality and something the kids will use again."

The website launched this past July, and Dec said the business has been well received thus far. She is currently targeting the Northeast with advertisements and direct mail campaigns, but has plans to extend her craft kits nationally in the future.

To ensure that her crafts resonate with their intended recipients, Dec consults her own craft team of young children, who test out each project before it launches. The idea for her business came from her own experiences crafting with her six-year-old son, and the creations she made with her grandparents as a child.

"It's a bit nostalgic," she said. "My memories are about my grandmother and grandfather teaching me to do things."