Handicrafts in Homeschool

I know that cutting, pasting, and creating artwork is a big part of elementary school. Each year we definitely go through our share of construction paper, glue, glitter, and all things craft related. But I often run into the dilemma of what to do with all of the work that my children create. With 4 kids being homeschooled, it just isn’t practical to hold on to the hundreds of pieces of paper that they craft.

What to Do?
What I used to do was to display their work for a week. I would either put it on the fridge with magnets or pin it up to the bulletin board in the school room. The work would hang there until Friday and then the children knew that it would be taken down to make room for new work the following week. This system worked pretty well. But, a couple of my kids got very hurt feelings knowing that their work would eventually be thrown out.

A More Permanent Solution
That made me want to find a way for the children to be able to make something that they wouldn’t feel was a “throw away”. So, I was happy when I found out that in the Charlotte Mason approach - which we’re currently using - she believed in the children doing handicrafts.

What a Handicraft Is
In her Home Education book, Mason points out the specifics of handicrafts. Handicrafts should not “be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like”. She instructed parents that the children should be “taught slowly and carefully what they are to do” and that “slipshod work should not  be allowed.” And she specified that “the children's work should be kept well within their compass.”

In today’s English I believe Charlotte Mason was saying that:

• what the children make should be useful;
• the children need to be taught the craft;
• children need to be encouraged to do their best work;
• and, you shouldn’t try to teach your children a skill that they’re not ready to handle yet.

Handicrafts in Our Homeschool
So, I have begun teaching my 6 year old daughter to crochet and to knit. Right now she is using her fingers but eventually I’ll teach her how to use a crochet hook and a knitting loom. She has made numerous bracelets and headbands for herself, family members, and her dolls.

My eldest son paints with watercolor. He also draws comic strips, which he keeps in a binder. And recently he has combined the two art forms to make comics which he paints with watercolor. I’m still working on finding out what my 7 and 4 year olds are interested in.

Here is  a list of handicrafts and life skills that might fit into your homeschool.

Serfronya Wallace
 
The six loves of Serfronya Wallace's life are God, her husband, and her 4 children - whom she homeschools. Serfronya enjoys sharing educational tips and writing about her family's homeschooling journey at Cookie's Domain.

Thank you for following The Homeschooling Blog!

Cursive Name Art

I'm sharing this idea a bit prematurely as I don't have a photo to share, but if you're looking for a creative assignment while practicing cursive name writing this project is for you!

My kids are taking a Summer school art course and both brought home their name art masterpieces yesterday. I loved the idea and until they told me what I was looking at didn't even realize they're names were the basis for their creations. Once this was pointed out to me, I could completely read their names... which were written lengthwise on a folded sheet of paper, using the fold as a starting and stopping point. They then transfer the image to the other side of the fold, so the names are mirroring one another.

The final process is to color or decorate the name, filling in the voids or spaces as they desire. The end result is really cool and completely unique!

So, I WILL be posting photos. That process takes me awhile as I have a stubborn computer, but I'll get both names loaded so you can take a gander.

I'm sure your kids will get a kick out of this assignment! Mine sure did. :)

The Joy of Thumbprint Art

Are you looking for a really simple art project with a very real personal touch? I recently discovered thumbprint art, which is exactly what it sounds like! Get your thumbs ready! No thumb is too big or too small to create a one of a kind masterpiece.

You'd be surprised what a simple ink pad and a thin black pen or marker can produce. If you're like me and don't love paint (I'm just a bit too anal to handle the mess), ink pads, baby wipes and a thin marker are a welcome find.

I've shared a photo (with permission) of a very cute example of thumbprint art. I'll eventually supply my own photo. Mine wouldn't be as pretty if I posted today as all I have is a black ink pad and the artwork is oh so much more lovely when you have pretty colors. I need to hit the craft store!

Here's a great link and it's on one of my favorite sites... Squidoo!!! I have several Squidoo lenses myself.
Visit Thumbprint Art and just see what you and your children can do together! Maybe have them make a few thumbprint flowers for grandma in a Mother's Day card?

Great Mother's Day Craft Projects for Children & Adults

Usually when I go looking for craft ideas on the net, I don't find anything very unique and honestly rarely find anything I would want to give (or receive)... oops, did I say that? Of course when your child makes you almost anything at all, it's precious, but if you're overseeing the craft, wouldn't you like to have them create something worth making? Maybe something they could also make for Grandmas, Aunts, and other important women in their lives? Perhaps showing them a little skill along the way?

Maybe I'm too harsh. I just know that when it comes to my own 7 year old daughter, I like to make things with her that are keepers. Things that are either just too cute not to hang onto, or things that hold up over time. It's really cool if you can find a craft that achieves both!

In any case, I just found a really cool website loaded with crafts for adults, and for children alike. I think it's mainly catering to adults, but many of the featured crafts would make for great family projects on a rainy day and will no doubt inspire a lot more excitement than making a pipe-cleaner worm for your pencil. Sorry if I've offended any pipe cleaner fans (I've seen them used in marvelous ways!) or worms.

Check out AllFreeCrafts.com and do some looking around. I love that this site gives you pictures and directions. It's the same type of excitement I feel when I find a recipe site with photos. If I don't know what my end result should look like, I'm less apt to attempt the project at all.

If you're looking for gifts specific to Mother's Day, you'll want to look at their Mother's Day Craft section. I'm just really impressed. All this great information for free has me all aglow! Ok, so I'm a bit of a geek, but like I tell my son, geek's have more fun.

Get Creative with Free Online Flower Drawing Tool!

This website is a great way to kill a few minutes if you just want to relax and play. It provided me with a good 15 minutes of entertainment last night after I put my kids to bed.

What's more... your kids will absolutely love it! Maybe even make it count towards an art class? My 6 year old daughter spent about an hour this morning playing on this site, creating and naming beautiful flowers.

There's not a print option on site, but I think you could probably hit "Print Screen" or you may be able to hit "Ctrl" and "Print Screen" together then paste to another application and print that way!

Free Templates for Interesting Paper Toys

If you're looking for something a little different to do for arts and crafts next week at your homeschool, why not check out a free page of Readymechs? These are paper toys that you print and build. The only tools required are a printer, matte paper and some double stick tape. Sound like fun?

I would have shared an image of one of the Readymechs, but since I would have had to steal the image from their site to do so, I'm just going to let you venture to their site and check them out for yourself! Visit Readymech, click the image you want to build and you'll see a miniature template. Click where it says "download pdf" and you'll get the larger printable version.

Now, a few of these might be a little too creepy for your kids, but my son's going to love the pirate and the robot-like creatures... at least that's what he's bound to see when I share this with him. You might want to rename some of the characters too... there are a couple that I don't really care for. Maybe let your kids rename the character you preselect for them to build. Just to be on the safe side, visit the site before you share it with them. ;)

Teaching Art Appreciation to Children

How do you build an appreciation for art in young children? Specifically, how do you engage their imaginations and get their creative juices flowing? Is there a best-approach method for introducing kids to great masterpieces, sparking lively discussion and fresh inspiration for their own artistic creations?

There are likely countless approaches to introducing art to children, but since I only have experience with one... I thought I'd share it! Can't say if it's the best method, but it's one we're having fun with, is simple and takes up minimal space on my bookshelf... something we're rapidly running out of.

We've been using the "Come Look With Me" books that we obtained through the My Father's World First Grade curriculum. These books can be purchased other places, including Amazon.com. I didn't really expect my kids to get much enjoyment at the ages of 5 and 6 from looking at Van Gogh's and Picasso's, but they actually love sitting together and discussing the paintings from these books.

We talk about how the paintings make us feel, the style of dress, the activity taking place, the expressions on faces and answer the questions provided in each lesson. So what then? What's a great hands-on activity for following up the lesson? I wasn't really sure myself until....

A comment was left on my Easter post the other day leading me to the Artsology website where to my delight I found a free compilation of printable coloring pages inspired by famous masterpieces... some of which my kids have learned about in the "Come Look With Me" series.

If you're looking for arts and crafts links, here a few to keep your classroom busy for awhile:
Creativity Portal
Crayola
Danielle's Place
Enchanted Learning
Make Pen & Ink Drawings from Stills

If you'd like to explore the Come Look with Me series, here are a handful of books for your review:


So, what is your own method for introducing young children to art? At what age have you or will you start taking field trips to local art museums? I'd love to hear what others have to say.

Another Page of Arts & Craft Links for your Homeschooler

I found this website through the Wahm.com message boards and thought I'd share it with you! The site is The HomeSchoolMom.com.

This site is all about helping the home schooler find the best in free resources. Be sure to navigate through the site to see all that's there.

Homeschooling & Art

I was thrilled to find a link rich page of arts and crafts for homeschooling families at Homeschooling on a Shoestring.com .

This page also includes information to help you plan art lessons on art appreciation and lesson plans. What a wonderful resource for enhancing your homeschooling experience!

Have fun ; )

Arts and Crafts... Ladybug Crafts

Danielle's Place is a wonderful place to find ladybug crafts for your home schoolers. If you're wanting to incorporate a bit of artwork into a science lesson, or just want to have some fun, visit the site for crafts, printables, and lessons all catered to our enchanting little friend... the ladybug!

If you know of any other cool craft sites, be sure and share them with a quick comment. : )