☞ Question of the Week: Crafts with and for kids?

Dear users, dear authors,
how does this work for you? Do you do crafts _with_ children?
Or do you crochet, knit, sew, knook, make crafts, or felt _for_ (your) children?
Tell us about it :- )

My daughter is 8, and her favorite thing to do is embroider. I think she’s still too young for crocheting—her fine motor skills aren’t quite there yet.
She’d love for me to make her a few amigurumi animals, but unfortunately, amigurumi isn’t my strong suit.

Hi everyone,

Grandma taught my oldest daughter to crochet, but unfortunately she hasn’t shown any interest or enjoyment yet... maybe not YET.
I taught her how to sew on a machine, which she enjoyed doing often for a while, but for about a year now, other things have been more interesting and the machine’s been sitting in the closet. But I’m sure she’ll get back into it.
I’ve started teaching my middle child how to weave and use a knitting dolly. He likes using the knitting dolly, but not very often.
Crocheting didn’t work out last year; maybe we’ll try again in the fall if he’s up for it (in the summer, he should be outside as much as possible!).
The youngest is, of course, still too little. For now, her “crafting” is limited to pulling apart yarn and drawing her first

“pictures.” Before she was born, I taught third- and fourth-graders how to sew by machine.

Oh, and threading activities with beads, fuse beads, buttons, etc. are a great introduction to crafts because that’s where kids learn their first fine motor skills. The youngest will soon get a thick darning needle that I’ll thread with a piece of yarn, and she can use it to thread buttons.

LG

Our daughter is now 10 years old and absolutely loves doing crafts. Last Christmas, she asked for a large loom and got it.
Crocheting didn’t go so well at first, but then she fiddled around on her own in her room until she finally got the hang of it. She’s already pretty good at single crochet in rows and in the round.
She’s even given me her first “orders” for sweaters and amigurumi.
Most recently, she asked for a backpack.
As for our oldest (16 years old), don’t even bother trying to get him interested in crafts. Years ago, he got a knitted scarf from his grandma, and he’s never worn it. He also refuses to wear hats.

My daughter was born in the crumbling Soviet Union, so I simply had no choice but to sew and knit for her because there was just nothing to buy. When we eventually moved to Germany, I kept sewing and knitting for her out of habit for a while, but at some point she stopped thinking it was cool, and that was the end of that. I also furnished the homemade Barbie house largely with furniture I made myself out of cardboard and accessories I made from clay. Of course, I also sewed clothes for Barbie. When my grandson was still very little, I made him knitted leg warmers; otherwise, my crafting for him basically boils down to mending and sewing up his clothes whenever he comes to visit. Oh, and the Advent calendar, the owl lantern, and the jumping jack owl that I have here in the store are now his.
I’ve hardly ever done any crafts with my daughter—she was never interested, and I didn’t want to force anything on her. But when she was 11 or 12, she had to at least learn how to mend her own clothes. When she was 13–14, she wanted to learn how to sew on a machine herself, and she’s actually quite good at it now. Teaching her to knit and crochet has been on my to-do list for a few years now, but somehow I never get around to it.
I’ve only ever done crafts with other people’s kids—as a recreation instructor, which is also how I got into paper crafts and developing my own ideas :-).

@oksik
That’s interesting that you find crocheting more difficult than knitting.

For me, it is/was exactly the other way around: I get along much better with a single hook when crocheting than with two knitting needles.
When crocheting, you only ever have one stitch “at a time” on the hook… and if you happen to make a mistake or the hook slips out of the loop, it’s MUCH easier to correct. I also find getting started much simpler and easier to understand when crocheting.

But you see, it’s different for everyone :-D

Best regards, Stefanie
(Aramis-von-K)

Well, I was already crocheting and knitting for my daughters while I was pregnant. I still make hats, sun hats, slippers, scarves, hairbands, etc., for them, and they love wearing them.
I’ve also made quite a few doll and Barbie outfits. I built the Barbie house myself out of wood, complete with wallpaper and flooring.
  We made the furniture and dishes for it together.
My girls do spool knitting and weaving; the older one is currently practicing finger knitting. We’re always doing crafts anyway.
Crocheting with a crochet hook hasn’t quite worked out yet—we’re still practicing that.
I love crafting together!
Best regards,
Karin 

I’ve always done a lot of crafts with my kids (who are now 16, 20, 22, and 26). Crocheting and knitting never really took off to the point where they enjoyed doing them. I also used to sew and knit for my two girls when they were little. At some point, though, I just didn’t have the time for it anymore.

My oldest is getting married next month, and now I’m hoping for a grandchild so I can knit and sew for them......

I haven’t managed to get any of my four girls to do any crafts. The only thing they do is occasionally sew on a button and place orders with Mom. I used to make everything myself, from underwear to anoraks. ... Now my youngest son gets the clothes my grandson has outgrown as hand-me-downs. 

BOTH :)

We do a lot of crafts with and for kids here....... It’s fun, offers a nice change of pace, and sparks the kids’ creativity....

Well, I have a son. He’s turning 9 now. He really loves doing crafts, but he doesn’t quite share my passion for crocheting! He’s a boy, after all. He thinks my amigurumi are great, but he’s never really wanted one of his own. On the contrary, sometimes he says, “Mom, all you ever think about is your crocheting.” We do crafts together sometimes, or do puzzles, paint, or things like that! When he says that, I quickly get the feeling that I’ve neglected him. But I don’t think that’s what he means at all! In any case, he’s very creative too, even as a boy. He paints his own mandalas—it’s really great!

I’m constantly making things for my kids. Every day they come up with new requests. They want big and small animals. Right now, it’s jewelry.
My daughter wants flowers, and my son wants a bracelet with cool “stuff” on it (for a 9-year-old, that currently means vampires, ghosts, and spiders)—and it has to be black. Thank goodness he loves green—I’ll work that in too.

My little one has been able to embroider on her own for a long time now; she started with those cardboard embroidery pictures when she was just 5. She’s not interested in anything else.

My older son has mastered crocheting by now, but he’d rather I make things for him. I already have a really great keychain he made for me, and he also made me a beautiful embroidered picture.
But his talent clearly lies in painting.
Dad’s the one for crafts. They’re currently tinkering with a Styrofoam guitar with wire strings that can actually be tuned.

So there’s always a lot going on at home for and with the kids.

Since my oldest daughter is here with the grandchildren right now, I’m being completely raided and have once again received a mile-long wish list.
So for me, it’s definitely: for the kids