Do you remember being in school and feeling like you were bad at a particular subject?
Maybe it was maths. Maybe spelling. Maybe science. For me it was maths!!!
At some point, many of us decided we simply weren’t good at something. Looking back, I often wonder how much of that had to do with the way we were being taught, rather than our actual ability.
Even as adults, we all learn differently. Some of us like to read something. Some prefer to watch someone show us. Others need to actually have a go. Most of us use a combination of all of them.
Children are no different.
They need opportunities to see, touch, hear, experiment and most importantly, do. And that’s one of the reasons I’ve always loved crafting.
Why Crafting Was Always a Big Part of My Classroom
When I ran my Montessori school, crafting was a huge part of our curriculum.
Not because I wanted every child to be brilliant at art, and definitely not because I wanted 20 identical little crafts going home at the end of the day!
It was because one simple activity could involve so many different parts of a child’s development.
And I loved watching it happen. I still do at my children’s craft classes and camps.
The concentration when they were trying to work something out. The conversations around the table.
But my favourite moments were always the little discoveries.
“Look what happened!”
“I made green!”
“I figured it out!”
There’s a kind of wonder in discovering something for yourself that you just don’t get when somebody gives you the answer first.
One of the things I took from Montessori and carried with me throughout all my years teaching was this: our job as adults isn’t to do everything for children. It’s to create an environment where they have opportunities to try.
Put interesting materials in front of them. Give them time. Let them explore. Watch what happens. And be there when they need you.
Because independence doesn’t mean never asking for help. Knowing when you’re stuck and being able to say “Can you help me?” is an important life skill too.
Sometimes our job is simply to loosen the lid, start the corner of the bag or show them the first step. We don’t have to do the experience for them. We just need to make the experience possible.
And They Haven’t Even Started Crafting Yet!
Look at this. It’s just a child opening a bag, right?
But look at those fingers. They’re pinching the plastic, trying to separate the two sides, holding the bag with one hand while pulling with the other. And if it doesn’t open straight away? They try again.
It’s such a tiny thing that most of us wouldn’t even notice. Actually, we’d probably say, “Here, I’ll do that for you” and have it open in two seconds!
But sometimes the bit we automatically do for them is the bit they actually need to practise.
Of course, if they’re genuinely struggling, help them. I might start something off, loosen a lid or make it a little easier. But then I give it back.
“There you go. I know you can open it yourself.”
Because there’s a big difference between “I couldn’t do it so somebody did it for me” and “I needed a little help and then I did it myself.”
Who Knew Paint Could Do All That?
Give a child a paintbrush and a few colours and just watch what happens.
At first, they’re usually thinking about one thing: What colour am I going to use?
Then the little discoveries start.
“This one needs another coat.”
“Mine is still wet.”
“Why is this one shiny?”
“Look what happened!”
They begin to notice that paint behaves differently depending on how much they use. A thin coat dries quickly. A big blob… not so much.
They notice that some colours cover the wood better than others and that the colour can look different once it dries. And sooner or later, two colours meet — blue and yellow suddenly become green.
And you get that brilliant: “LOOK WHAT I MADE!”
We could have told them what would happen. But there’s something completely different about seeing it happen because they did it themselves.
And then curiosity takes over. “What happens if I add this?”
Now they’re experimenting.
When Squeezing the Bottle is the Lesson
Even squeezing paint out of a bottle takes some figuring out.
One hand is holding it. The other is squeezing. They have to work out how hard to press.
Nothing comes out… Squeeze harder… Still nothing… WHOOSH. Half the bottle comes out.
Been there, done that!!! We’ve all seen that one!
But now they’ve learnt something by doing it. Next time, maybe they squeeze a little more gently.
That’s the lovely thing about crafting. We don’t have to turn everything into a lesson. Sometimes it’s better to just let the lesson happen.
Look, I Made Green!
This is one of my favourites.
We can tell a child a hundred times that blue and yellow make green. Or… they can swirl those colours together themselves and watch green suddenly appear in front of them.
Which one do you think they’re going to remember?
And then they’re off. “What happens if I put white in?” “Can I make purple?” “What if I mix ALL of them?”
We all know where that last one is going. Brown! It’s nearly always brown. But even that is a discovery.
They’re experimenting because they genuinely want to know what will happen. That’s learning.
And Then We Have Glue…
Glue brings its own adventures. Is that enough glue? Oops. That’s definitely too much glue.
Now the child has to think about how individual pieces become something bigger. And sometimes… it goes wrong.
Good! Not major-crafting-meltdown wrong. Just those little problems where something doesn’t happen quite the way they expected.
And then comes: “Lisa! Look what happened!”
That’s where I might ask: “Okay… what do you think we could do?”
Sometimes they know immediately. Sometimes they need a little help. Sometimes they come up with a solution I hadn’t thought of.
But they’re thinking. And they’re learning that if something doesn’t work the first time, it doesn’t automatically mean they can’t do it. They can try something else.
Look at Those Fingers
This is exactly the sort of photograph I love because at first glance there isn’t much happening. A child is putting a bead onto a piece of wire or cord.
That’s it. Except it isn’t.
They have to pick up that little bead. Hold it between their fingers. Find the hole. Hold the cord steady. Line the two up. Push it through. Then move the bead along. And probably repeat the whole thing several times.
That’s a lot of work for little fingers.
We hear the words fine motor skills all the time, but this is what they actually look like in real life. They’re not something that only happens during handwriting practice. They’re being developed while children are busy making something they actually want to make.
You Can’t Really Teach Concentration by Saying “Concentrate”
We can’t teach a child to concentrate by saying: “You need to concentrate.”
They develop concentration by becoming absorbed in something they’re genuinely interested in.
The child who finds it difficult to sit still for ten minutes might spend ages carefully painting tiny details, choosing beads or trying to get two stubborn little pieces to fit together.
Nobody is telling them to concentrate. They’re concentrating because they’re involved and because they’re enjoying what they’re doing.
You’ll see it when they’re painting a tiny section and don’t want to stop. When they’re determined to thread that last bead. When something won’t fit and they keep turning it around until suddenly… “I GOT IT!”
That’s concentration. That’s persistence. That’s problem-solving. And nobody had to sit them down and teach them any of those things.
When It Doesn’t Quite Go to Plan
Crafting doesn’t always go exactly the way we imagined. A bit too much paint here. Too much glue there. A piece put on the wrong way or a colour that looked much better in our head!
And that’s okay.
If we never try because we’re worried about getting something wrong, we never get the chance to discover what we can do either.
So before jumping in to fix it, give them a second. “What do you think we could do?”
You’d be surprised how often children come up with their own solution. Maybe they paint over it. Turn the piece around. Add something to it. Or decide they actually quite like it after all.
And sometimes there isn’t anything to fix. It just looks different from what they originally planned.
Different doesn’t mean wrong.
Crafting gives children a lovely, safe place to try things, make mistakes, change their minds and have another go. Because getting something wrong isn’t the opposite of learning. Quite often, it’s how the learning happens.
It’s Amazing What Gets Talked About Around a Table
Something else happens when children craft together. They talk. A lot!
They’re looking at what the person beside them is doing. “How did you make that colour?” “Look what I did.” “Can I use that when you’re finished?”
And then the conversation wanders off completely. School. Friends. Pets. Holidays. What happened yesterday.
Sit a child beside a parent, grandparent, sibling or friend with something to make and suddenly you’ve created time where they’re actually doing something together.
There’s no pressure to “sit down and have a conversation.” They’re just chatting while they create.
What a Screen Can’t Give Them
I’m not anti-screen. Technology has its place.
But there is something different about creating with your hands.
Paint is wet. Glue is sticky. Pieces need to fit together. Things take time to dry. And there’s no undo button when something doesn’t quite go to plan.
Children have to be part of the process. They wait. They adjust. They try. They think. They do.
And at the end they have something real they can hold. Something they made themselves. And you can see what that means to them.
And if you’d love to buy a DIY Craft kit for a special little person you love (or even yourself!) check out our fantastic range here.
