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Working with our hands
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Check out your local Dollar Tree for supplies. Different stores have different stock, but I have found small tools, garden supplies, craft and art supplies. Quality varies too but sometimes we are pleasantly surprised. I bought five packs of colorful modelling clay this weekend and opened it up for the middles and littles this morning so the bigs and I could get in a solid Spanish and grammar lesson. They Loved it! They made the cutest little animals and we took photos before cleaning up. We also like some watercolor paints from the Dollar Tree. They are not the strip of paint ovals, but it is on a black plastic palette. Probably not last-forever quality, but good enough for us at this time.
Baking cookies is a good activity for boys and girls both. They can gift them to neighbors/friends or take them to events to share.
I wanted to share a “moment” with you ladies as I think you’ll appreciate it. My 14 year old has a favorite jersey that needed some attention. He’s been wanting his sister to fix it for a long while. Yesterday I came home and found him attempting to sew it by hand. I was completely caught of guard and secretly thrilled! He was proud of his attempt. I told him that I was very proud he had taken the initiative and asked if it looked like the sewn seams. A few minutes later he asked me to teach him how to use the sewing machine. This son of mine who has had NO interest hand work was sitting at the table today sewing his jersey! This Momma longed to take a picture but didn’t want to ruin a good thing or embarrass him. 🙂
I’ve found for my Mother Culture/Schole that while reading is my favorite activity, I must also do something with my hands occasionally. Last year I started learning to quilt and one of my favorite things to do is listen to books while I sew after our homeschool is done for the day. It keeps my brain busy while my hands are busy.
I added this component to our handicrafts…if we are painting, we listen to our composer. If we are sewing, we listen to books, etc. It has added to our shared family culture.
I find that keeping a basket with various projects (like cross-stitch) that the kids are working on handy is helpful. I find them wandering around sometimes and when I come back through they found the basket and are working on it without me saying anything. 🙂
I’m so fortunate to have connected with a talented woman in my little town who was willing to teach my daughter all sorts of handicrafts. Over the years I’ve paid for music lessons and sport participation- so it didn’t seem like much of a stretch to contact a local artist I admire and ask if she was willing to give lessons. Today they made friendship bracelets. They’ve made jewelry,doll clothes, and real clothes, they’ve worked with everything from paper to metal. She’s done two darling watercolors, and they have a plan for a baby blanket in the works. Handicrafts was just something that rarely made it to the top of my priority list and we lacked many of the tools. This was our remedy. My daughter treasures the time she spends with this woman, while I value her influence as much as I value the new skills. I know it won’t be feasible for everyone, and craft lessons are a little unorthodox, but for us they’re working beautifully.
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