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Dawnie
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Do any of you suffer from "craft guilt"?
Here's a definition for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about!
craft guilt: feelings of regret or guilt a mom has over not doing arts and crafts with her preschool and young school-age children.
Personally, I really like doing artistic and crafty things, as long as it's something that is useful or pretty (meaning that it can actually be used for decoration). I like sewing, knitting, singing, playing the piano, and I'm working on learning how to draw. But I find "art projects" very difficult to do with my kids. When I say "art projects," I'm talking about the kinds of projects where Mom has to cut out things, gather supplies, and then walk the pre-reading child through each step, only to end up w/ something that is neither useful or pretty. What are you supposed to do with a picture of a tree that has little squares of tissue paper glued onto the branches? My daughters are almost 7, almost 4, and almost 2. I also struggle with keeping the little one occupied while trying to do an art project with the older 2. At Christmastime, I found plastic jewels that we had been using in an art project in my toddlers diaper! We're hoping to have more children, so I anticipate this will be an issue for quite a few more years. Oh, and let's not forget all the space the supplies you need to do art projects takes up!
The questions I've been struggling with follow: are these kinds of art projects really neccessary for children's development? Would it be okay (or maybe even better) to wait until the child has enough fine motor skills and reading ability to learn real skills of her own choosing, like sewing, knitting, crochet, and drawing? I would much rather teach my daughters real skills they can use to make things that are useful and pretty, but I worry that they are "missing out" on something.
Do any of you struggle with craft guilt and/or doing crafts w/ children who are too young to participate (but old enough to make a wreck of everything!)? What did Charlotte Mason say about arts and crafts? Did they even do the kinds of "art projects" that are popular in pre-school and kindergarten programs now? I'm looking forward to reading your comments.
Dawn &n bsp;
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lapazfarm
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Now, I'm no CM expert, but I feel there is art twaddle just as there is literary twaddle. In fact most of the art projects you see in pre-K or K programs seem to be twaddle to me and just like you I cringe at doing them. However, fine motor skill development doesn't happen on it's own, and letting a highchair bound toddler gleefully cut an entire magazine into confetti does much more for the little hands( while keeping them happily occupied so older sibs can do some real art) than having them assemble a bunch of mommy-prepared pieces into a cute "project". True, the end product may not be as pleasing,(a pile of scraps on the floor) but the child has actually done something productive-developing those little muscles.
I don't think you will be hurting your child by keeping your art program twaddle-free any more than by keeping their reading the same. Give them quality art supplies and let them experiment to their heart's content. Expose them to lots of great art. Talk about it with them and encourage them to imitate it at their level. Do art along side them.
That's just my very uninformed opinion, of course.
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Rachel May
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lapazfarm wrote:
| Now, I'm no CM expert, but I feel there is art twaddle just as there is literary twaddle. |
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 I had never thought of it that way!
I think it's good to let kids explore with creating, but I do hate the mess. As the big kids get bigger and need less supervision, I'm finding that the littles are less of a problem. I tend not to do that sort of assembled art project like you mention. Instead, I'll pull out the water colors and let everyone paint until they have fulfilled their desire. Or make playdough and let them play/leave it out until it's crispy and must be thrown away. Or make pudding and let them fingerpaint on cookie sheets. Drawing supplies are always handy. That's about it.
I think that that sort of free art helps release their frustrations and allows them to enjoy creativity instead of create tension by trying to produce something that is just so. We have one room designated for hanging art from the art museum and things they've painted. They are very proud of the gallery. But when we didn't have that space, I bought them each a clip magnet for the fridge. One piece of art was hung at a time, the rest went into a pile, and I could slowly cycle other things into the trash without them minding.
Our art closet is a mess, and I am coming to grips with the fact that as long as an 18 month old can turn a doorknob and climb shelves, I will have to surrender to that. 
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Rebecca
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Rachel May wrote:
| [Our art closet is a mess, and I am coming to grips with the fact that as long as an 18 month old can turn a doorknob and climb shelves, I will have to surrender to that. |
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Just a note...we installed one of those hook and eye things at the top of ours because our daughter ate a pack of puffy stickers and sprinkled glitter in the fishtank  . It was a cheap solution to an aggravating problem  .
God Bless,
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Rebecca
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Dawnie wrote:
Do any of you suffer from "craft guilt"?
Here's a definition for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about!
craft guilt: feelings of regret or guilt a mom has over not doing arts and crafts with her preschool and young school-age children. |
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Dawn, I have to tell you that I have been thinking about the same thing as I have a friend who is the craft queen. I sometimes feel inferior around her!
My kids never seem interested or proud of the finished product when it is what we call a "cheesy craft".
I have always had a wide variety of art supplies in our home...clay, markers, crayons, drawing pencils, colored pencils, water colors, pastels, chalk, etc. But I have never been much of a pom-pom, popsicle stick, glitter glue kind of gal. I admire those who are creative enough to coordinate crafts with these type of things but it is just not for me. Don't get me wrong, I buy all the crafty stuff but it never seems to get used except by toddlers who make big messes in it. The most used art products in our home are watercolors and clay which even the three year olds enjoy. (the 2 year olds like the glitter!)
Don't feel guilty, you are who you are!
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teachingmom
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Dawnie wrote:
Do any of you suffer from "craft guilt"?
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Yes!!! Just a few days ago I was reading a book to my 3yo, and my 6yo was sort of half listening. The book showed a preschool classroom and the kids were finger painting. My 6yo asked why we have never done that.  Yes, I must admit that only my 2 oldest children have ever tried finger painting. I have tons of paints around here, so I really have no excuses. I resolved to have my 3 and 6yo dds finger paint soon, but it hasn't happened yet.
Craft guilt? You bet.
However, even my art project deprived children are very naturally artistic. They are constantly drawing and coloring. For about a month there, my 9yo and 11yo spent every spare moment drawing beautiful paper dolls in 19th century dresses and hairstyles that my 6yo and 7yo then colored and cut out and played with.
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amiefriedl
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Does a day go by that any mother worth her salt doesn't feel guilty about something?
I refuse to use glitter.
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In Christ the King through Mary our Mother,
Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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Dawnie
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I'm glad to see that I'm in the same boat as other homeschooling moms w/ young children!
Dawn
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MaryM
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I'll chime in as a craft-oriented mother who does do those types of projects and say to you that you are not depriving your children by not doing craft projects with them. I don't think those types of projects that you described are necessary to a child's development, but can be fun for those who do enjoy them. And they aren't really beneficial at all at ages when the child isn't taking the initiative or interest in doing them. I think that children that have the inclination to want to do this sort of thing will gravitate toward it as they get old enough to express the interest.
As Theresa mentioned as part of their development it is good to have exposure to some of the process and the materials. Experience with scissors and glue are skills to have, but like she said there are ways to do that and not make a "craft."
I think that at this age process is more important than product. Getting hands working with art/craft media is beneficial at these ages - I would pick painting and sculpting. But I suggest simple media like playdough and watercolors, in the tins (Prang is a good, vibrant option but still reasonable in price for beginners). Both can be done by the 4/5+ age crowd with minimal supervision in the right environment (plastic tablecloth - no carpet or on a table outside). Playdough has the advantage of being temporary. Make craft pieces and then squish them back in the container at the end of the session. Don't have to find a place to display it.
The watercolor tins are my top choice because they are easy to use and even to cleanup on their own for little ones. Keep tins/brushes, scrap paper, plastic containers for water in a box. When they want to paint, pull it out, spread some newspaper on the table (and take the toddler somewhere else). My brother and I (and my own kids) did this unsupervised at about those ages. Clean up is pretty easy. There is so much that can be learned and enjoyed from experimenting with color through this medium. There are some really good books out there with ideas for "process" and not product when it comes to painting - and watercolor is the best medium for little ones.
Another "temporary" medium is chalk - the whole driveway is the canvas, but no need to store or display the product for longer than the time to the next rainstorm.  Great activity for art/craft and even the toddlers can participate for as long as the interest holds. We have decorated the sidewalks for Easter-could do that for any feast day. It would be a lovely craft project (and witness to the neighborhood).
Your oldest daughter is at an age where she probably can start doing some of the practical craft skills (think Laura and Mary in LHitBW) - they started early. Maybe Mary G. will jump in with ideas for knitting at this age. Counted cross-stitch, with large canvas is another that comes to mind. I have invloved my children with my interest/activities in the practical craft world for early ages.
If you are interested, there are ways to help a child get craft exposure but minimize your personal involvement (keep the mess out of your house, leave the detailed instruction to someone else, no toddlers around). Obviously there are classes and such at recreation centers. But there are alot of drop-in and free/inexpensive options as well.
Home Depot Kid's Workshops are free "How-To Clinics" designed for children ages 5-12. "The workshops are offered on the first Saturday of each month between 9:00 a.m. and noon at all The Home Depot stores. Children accompanied by an adult construct projects from pre-fabricated kits. The kits are designed to be both educational and practical."
Michael's also has Kid's Club Imagination Saturday's. The cost is only a couple dollars and all the mess stays there! Your local Michael's store may also be willing to do a weekday homeschool craft time. They had that going here for awhile.
I just found out that there is a Visual Arts center here in our area that has free studio time, everyday for 2 hours in the afternoon. It's a drop-in deal and the kids get to work with the materials there, no cost. Its mission is to promote the arts and I'm not sure how it is funded. But I would imagine that there are likely other programs out there that are government or privately funded to promote the arts.
A personal note - my mother is the most non-crafty/non-artistic person, but both my sister and I ended up being very much oriented toward all types of arts and crafts. Her lack of interest and involement did not stifle us. I don't recall her ever doing any craft activity with us (we weren't homeschooling either, but there wasn't much of this for us in our elementary school either) so we developed the interest on our own as we got more independent in our ability to do our own projects. She was always supportive - let us do our projects and bought materials and kits. She did show an interest and recognized what we did. One thing I particulary remember about her being "involved" when we were really young but not active in our projects was as an art critic/judge. We did the watercolor painting like I described above for hours. We would develop a gallery at each session and my mom would come for the "veiwing" and judge the paintings (we all got turns at winning and the different categories provided for multiple winners). I look back and realize how she was able to be involved but not really have to participate in something she didn't enjoy. I really appreciate that.
Dawnie wrote:
| At Christmastime, I found plastic jewels that we had been using in an art project in my toddlers diaper! |
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That was her own "work of art!" 
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Mary M. in Denver
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ShawnaB
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I'll agree with MaryM that young children are much more interested in the PROCESS than the PRODUCT. Mine are little, 5, 3 and babies. I have all the basic materials, twistable crayons (harder to eat and strip the paper off), water colors, washable markers, a stack of recycled copy paper, little scissors, plastic stencils, paper punches, colored paper, card stock and envelopes for making and mailing cards, play dough.... My new favorite product is water color pencils, which are almost mess-free and can be used as pencils or smeared with water to blend the colors. All of these things are easily accessible in tubs, and can be quickly thrown back inside. I used to contain my now 3 year old in the high chair, but she's much less destructive now.
I almost never lead my kids in a craft project. Its truly not my thing. I just make the materials available and let them do their own thing. We do have paints, and sometimes I get them out for a special treat, or to make something spectacular for a lap book (we did paint planets on black paper). And like Amie, I have boycotted glitter....its so not worth it, and I feel not an ounce of guilt.
When the weather turns nice, I am more lenient about messy projects done outside on our plastic kids' picnic table.
I love the art books by Mary Ann Kohl,
PreSchool Art: Its the Process not the Product and Science ARt.
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Erin
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Well I have suffered from craft guilt for many years, particularly as I know my children love this sort of thing and our homeschool runs smoother as thet seem to need the balance of their creative side. This year I finally hit on a solution, it is inexpensive and easy for me to organise, at the beginning of the month I print off four projects from this site Art Attack and we do one a week. This is achievable for this very creatively challenged mother. And I'm actually enjoying it.
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Erica Sanchez
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Great site, Erin!!
Lots of craft guilt here....
But, like Irene said, my kids are wonderful at drawing and crafting on their own with things like felt, cardboard, or whatever they come up with....
Amie, you're not alone, I refuse to use glitter as well!!
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Erica in San Diego
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Angie Mc
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For the child who just HAS to have glitter...glitter clay.
Love,
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Angie Mc
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JennGM
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Great thread! I'm enjoying all the suggestions and advice! To add to your great advice, MaryM, Lowes and A.C. Moore (the competitions to Home Depot and Michael's) also host workshops for kids.
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Karen E.
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from an older blog post:
Confessions of a not-so-crafty-mom:
1. I only recently bought my first glue gun.
2. I didn't know what Perler beads were until a couple of years ago.
3. I used to dread trips to Hobby Lobby.
4. I've been known to count bubble-sculpting in the tub as a craft.
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Karen E.
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teachingmom
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Karen E. wrote:
2. I didn't know what Perler beads were until a couple of years ago.
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OK, Karen, you've got me beat by a couple of years. Perler beads? I've never heard of them. What are they?
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guitarnan
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Perler beads are those small, cylindrical, hollow plastic bits that you set up in a pattern on a shaped plastic base with little spikes on it. When you've laboriously assembled (or knocked off and re-assembled) all the beads onto the base, you lay a piece of paper over the base and beads and fuse them together with your iron. Success depends on the iron temperature and - IMHO - patience and finesse of the ironing person. Sometimes ours just fall to pieces once they've cooled.
My daughter likes assembling the beads but often gets bored before finishing. Then I have a base with a bunch of beads perched on it, with two kitty cats just waiting to pounce on it and cause mayhem. Sigh.
Glitter is for Other People to clean up. I try really hard to avoid it here.
We always have tons of paper, markers, crayons, paints, etc. lying around. I buy newsprint in bulk from dickblick.com. We occasionally do projects (mostly related to liturgical seasons or feast days). I have Art Day once in a while, where we do art all day long so Mom doesn't freak over cleaning up messes...we just make them all on the same day. This is especially helpful when your project is time-consuming or multi-step; you can do part of it, let it set or dry while you work on another project, then come back and finish it.
My kids adore Shrinky Dinks. No one's mentioned them so far!
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Karen E.
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guitarnan wrote:
Glitter is for Other People to clean up. |
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Actually, I love glitter. I think it's cheerful. I have been known to say no to it if we don't have time, but in general, I love it.
guitarnan wrote:
| My kids adore Shrinky Dinks. No one's mentioned them so far! |
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Mine love those, too! They also love (and can create a lot of stuff on their own without much supervision) Fun Foam sheets and pipe cleaners.
Sculpey is also great. What I love about Sculpey is that the things they make become pernament toys. We keep a container of sculpey figures the kids have made. They make families: a mom, dad and usually lots of babies.
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MaryM
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Dawnie wrote:
| Personally, I really like doing artistic and crafty things, as long as it's something that is useful or pretty (meaning that it can actually be used for decoration). |
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Here is a really fun craft that is useful because the end product is flower fairies that they can play with. Klutz press has a kit; Fairies: Petal People You Make Yourself
In addition to the kit, there is a great craft section in the April 2003 issue of Family Fun magazine which includes directions for making this type of flower fairy from wooden balls, silk flowers, and florist wire. Also a picture of a cute fairy house. This is what we did instead of buying the kit. I was hoping it was uploaded on the Family Fun website but unfortunately it isn't one of the sections that they uploaded from that issue. If somebody wanted to see the flower fairy instructions I could scan the page and email it.
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Rachel May
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guitarnan wrote:
| My kids adore Shrinky Dinks. No one's mentioned them so far! |
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WE just got into these too. My sister sent some shrink art icon kits from the paidea classics site. They have a bunch for after Easter which I thought would be fun to do, if I could figure out paypal.
Or you can buy shink art paper(Down at the bottom of this page) for your inkjet printer. The kids are begging for it!
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Rachel
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Craft guilt
