Handicraft Ideas

Charlotte Mason believed that children should be trained in handicrafts, skills which they could use for the rest of their lives. We modern-day moms have expanded this idea to include "life skills" as well. I do agree that the children should learn worthwhile skills.

The children should not “be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like.”

Their work should be purposeful. A picture to hang; a rug which decorates and beautifies a wall, a sweater to keep warm; a bracelet of beads to wear...

Here are some examples of handicrafts:

Applique
Beading
Calligraphy
Candlemaking
Carving
Ceramics
Chalk drawing
Charcoal sketching
Clay sculpturing
Crocheting
Cross-stitching
Doll Making
Embroidery
Fiber art
Fiber preparation: spinning, carding, dying
Finger painting
Flower arranging
Gardening
Iron sculpturing
Kiting
Knitting and Loom Knitting
Latch-hooking
Leather crafting
Loom weaving
Macrame
Nature crafts (wreaths, dried arrangements, sachets)
Needlepoint
Oil painting
Pencil sketching
Photography
Picture framing
Pottery
Quilting
Rubber stamping
Scrapbooking
Scroll sawing
Sewing
Soap Making
Soft metal tooling
Spool-knitting
Videography
Watercolor painting
Weaving (rugs, blankets, baskets, placemats, pot holders, etc)
Weaving pot holders
Whittling
Woodworking

My son (adult) does quite a few of these: drawing, charcoal sketching, painting with all sorts of mediums, whittling and carving to name a few. Lee Anne (adult) draws and sews. Alexis (age 11) draws and writes. She's also interested in sewing. Lorelai is almost 7 and has loved photography for years. (Boy does she take some weird abstract photos!!) I will teach them to make soy candles and natural, handmade soaps (since this is mom's "thing") and photography.  I also may teach them quilting and crocheting.

What handicrafts do you do? What are you teaching your children? What would you like to learn?

Happy Homeschooling!
Michelle