Fun Sewing Activities for Kids
by Megan Bittner
When you plan your homeschool curriculum, you likely include some life skills that you want your children to have before they leave home. You might plan to teach them financial skills like balancing a checkbook and saving money, cooking skills so that they can provide healthy meals for themselves, and repair skills like changing a tire and using basic tools. One thing that might not have made it on the list is handworking skills–like sewing! Check out this Homeschool Living for some great reasons to teach a life skill that some likely consider outdated, resources for teaching sewing in your homeschool, and some fun project ideas perfect for a range of ages and abilities.
Learning to Sew, Cultivating an Art
Not too long ago, it was common for children to learn the art of sewing and knitting. When clothes were made by hand, and hats and mittens were a typical living room project, it made sense that kids would learn to provide those items for themselves as they grew up. While your kids might not need to create their own wardrobes from scratch, there are still very real benefits to investing your time and resources into teaching your children the art of basic sewing.
Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to replace a missing button, do simple tailoring like hemming pants and skirts, or even create handmade gifts, learning to sew will provide children with a creative way to build self-confidence, learn patience and logic as they follow a pattern, and even develop dexterity and fine motor skills. Check out these five reasons children should learn how to sew from Thinkfun.com.
It’s all well and good to teach a skill to your child if you already possess the skill yourself. But what about if you’re the one who never learned how to sew on a button? On her blog, Blog, She Wrote, Heather Woodie, a homeschooling mom of four, shares tips and tricks for teaching and learning to sew, gathering the supplies you need, creating your sewing space, finding mentors with more expertise, and even choosing a sewing machine (if you are so inclined!)
10 Life Skills Projects
You can check out this list of sewing essentials geared toward beginners for ideas on what types of tools and materials you may need. Keep in mind, you don’t need to have all–or any!–of the tools on the list. Your homeschool sewing curriculum is what you want and need it to be, so if teaching a few simple hand stitches is your limit, then just tackle that. Knowing how to push a needle through the fabric is all you need for many basic repairs and modifications. However, if you’ve got a crafty kid or two, investing in some quality tools and materials may make a huge difference.
It’s no fun to learn a new life skill without seeing some practical use for it. These ten sewing projects for kids are excellent ways to practice new skills and create fun and useful items for themselves, their home, and for friends.
Want to take the study further? Check out this button unit study, with some fascinating tie-ins to history, math, science, and more!
Megan Mora Fuentes
