amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

Slightlycrunchymama · 10-18-2007, 01:31 PM

Ive been trying to make these little wool felt horses for the kids school christmas faire and Averys been bugging me that she wants to sew, to 'help' ect... I went to Michaels yesterday to look for a crafty idea for her, but couldt find much. She's 4. What simple ideas can a 4yo do? Id ideally like to find her something I can get her started and then she could work semi-independantly alongside me. Is this unreasonable for a 4yo?

Rhea · 10-19-2007, 09:52 PM

Oh gosh, I had that challenge with my eldest (now 12) whenever I'd want to craft, and now it's my 6 yo, with quilts! The hardest part is that I rarely have time to make things, so when I do, I really don't want to give that time up to help her do something that is so far beyond her ability right now. Okay, that wasn't helpful. LOL

Treasure bags out of felt? Two squares hand sewn around three sides with contrasting thread, then add ribbon straps? The front could be decorated by gluing things down - beads, felt pieces. They could be made as holiday gifts, or as decoration for on top of a gift.

Oooh, how about cutting out images from old cards and making gift tags by gluing them down on pretty paper then cutting around them slightly larger than image?

My eldest used to enjoy knitting teddy bear scarves, but I don't remember how old she was when she did it. The nice thing about scarves for teddy bears or dolls is that you see results quickly since there are only 4 or 6 stitches across.

Here's one a 4 yo can definitely do and they come out so nice - putting paint inside a glass christmas ball and swirling it around. As long as you limit the colors to say, Christmas green, Christmas red, and gold, they will always come out works of art. (I once let the kids at all the colors and oh my, they came up with some unattractive combinations. It was an interesting tree that year.) Rule of thumb is to put in only two colors plus gold or silver, or at most 3 colors plus gold or silver. I can't remember what type of paint we used, I think Cetacolor.

Rhea

craftymama · 10-20-2007, 12:01 PM

One of my hobbies is scrapbooking. Got my, then 4 yr old, one from the dollar store and some pics printed up. She would use my scraps and pens, etc. to make her own. Kept her entertained and I had my free time.
Now she also likes to take my fabric scraps and do some glueing to make her own creations.
I had bought her one of those sewing kits (with felt and holes already in) but found she would get things knotted up a lot and then would want my help and get frustrated. She is only enough to do this now....5.
Little bead kits are a good one too. Just tie the bead onto the end of a string and let her go.
Oh and those fuse-beads. Don't know what they are really called though. Little plastic beads you put onto a little plastic thing and then after the shape is all filled up, you can iron it to make magnets or whatever. She really liked/likes that as well as her older brother.
I also got a cheap things of cards and envelopes at Micheals. She likes to make cards as well.
I could go on and on. I am all about indepedant crafting so mama can do her own thing.