Family Fun and Learning All in One!

photo credit: jc.westbrook

My grandmother tried to teach me patience at an early age through the use of arts and crafts. I did not know she was trying to teach me anything, but it sure was fun! This joy when craftign is somethign I wanted to share with my children as soon as they were old enough to give it a try. I try to make sure that we spend time with arts and crafts together, so we can have fun as we create wonderful things together!

In addition to all the fun, there are also significant learning opportunities with crafting. Some children, like my son, are not able to naturally hold scissors. Children develop at different rates and sometimes their fine motor skills need some honing to help them develop. So, having children cut with scissors helps to develop their hand strength and control, which will help them later on when writing, drawing, coloring, and even painting or sewing.

In addition to strengthening fine motor skills, there are other thigns that can be learned through crafting. Fostering creativity is an obvious one. Children need opportunities to be creative, where they can try out new and different ideas of their own. They will feel a sense of accomplishment when they are done with their project and are proud of the work they created!

Crafting can even help children to practice their reading and math skills as well. To follow a pattern, there are directions to be read and understood, so that they can be followed. They will also need to count and measure to make sure they have the right amounts of materials, which can further strenghen their math abilities.

I encourage you to craft with your children. Even if you learn to do something new with your child, the learning you experience together will leave fun memories in your child’s mind that will not be soon forgotten. Have fun creating and enjoy your time together!

About the author:    Alicia H. Tucker is a homeschool mom of three, after having taught in public schools for over ten years. She has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Education with a focus on Curriculum and Technology. She is a freelance writer and is currently working on writing her first book.