8 Reasons to Add Handicrafts to Your Homeschool

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Even though we follow a mostly Classical approach to educating our children using The Well-Trained Mind, we do like to add some Charlotte Mason components. One of the things we are going to start adding to our homeschool are handicrafts.

Sadly, I am about the most uncrafty person there is. I love to paint, but as far as crafts go I am a total dunce. I did learn to knit several times as a child but I always forgot how if I didn’t do it for a couple of weeks. And don’t even get me started on the horrendous puzzle holder made out of cardboard that I tried to make last year.

I think the reason I haven’t succeeded at crafting is because I was never really taught anything beyond a couple of lessons (if that) before I was set free to do it on my own. Without continued lessons and different kinds of projects to give the child many ideas of things they could do with that skill, they aren’t going to see the value or the point of practicing.

In this day of endless parades of sports games, music lessons, and everything else that goes into homeschooling, it can be hard to find the time or even a reason that you should add handicrafts to your homeschool.

Here are 8 reasons why handicrafts are beneficial. I hope that after reading them you will be more open to adding handicrafts into your homeschool!

1. Handicrafts Develop Skills And Hobbies That Can Enrich Your Children’s Lives

To me this is one of the most important reasons to incorporate handicrafts into your homeschool. On the rare occasion that I get a chance to paint, I feel so refreshed the next day. It fills an empty well inside of me. I want to help my children find something that gives them that same feeling of accomplishment and refreshment.

Knowing how to do a variety of handicrafts that are useful will help your child in her adult life as well. She will be able to enrich her home and make it beautiful. She will be able to teach her children the things she has learned. If money is tight she (or he) can start a side business teaching other people how to do different kinds of handicrafts.

2. Handicrafts Improve Self-Esteem

Helping your child to be accomplished in multiple areas is a great way to build a lifetime of self-esteem and confidence. When they start to get down on themselves because one of their friends knows how to do something that they can’t do, you can remind them of all the things they CAN do.

As your child practices and becomes proficient at different handicrafts, they will feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in themselves.

3. Handicrafts Help Your Kids To Be More Confident In Trying New Things

Whenever my oldest son gets discouraged about learning something new I always remind him about learning to ride his bike. We never got training wheels for him, and he kept trying for about a year before he could finally ride it perfectly. I am glad we did that (even though grandma thought we were being mean), because when he is discouraged I can remind him that even though he didn’t know how to ride a bike, he kept trying. When he would fall down, he would get back on even though he was frustrated.

Handicrafts are like that too. Many will probably be a little difficult at first. Once your children have several handicrafts under their belt it will be easier for them to work through their frustration when they are learning something new.

4. Handicrafts Help Your Child To Be Generous

When you find an activity that you like to do, you usually want to do it frequently. Children are the same way. However, there are only so many  scarves, potholders, and felted animals that you can use!

Encourage your child to give! Homemade presents are a wonderful way to show their love for someone! Assisted living communities, homeless shelters, children’s hospitals, and many more places also have programs where you can donate things.

When your children get older, they can also donate their time and knowledge by volunteering to teach handicraft classes at hospitals or retirement homes.

5. Handicrafts Give Your Child A Quiet Activity To Do During Read-Aloud Time

I am almost finished with The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections With Your Kids By Sarah Mackenzie. This book has blown me away and helped me to realize things about reading that I never thought about before. I am so motivated to start incorporating long read alouds to the whole family.

If you have very active kids, you may have struggled with ideas to keep them occupied during read-aloud time. Handicrafts are the perfect quiet activity to keep little hands busy while you read them great literature.

6. Handicrafts Develop Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills can be hard to develop in our modern society. In pioneer days children had many opportunities to work the muscles of the hands by doing things like kneading dough and milking cows, not to mention all of the handicraft opportunities they had.

Handicrafts are a wonderful way to strengthen the hand! Repetitive, precise movements that are different for each handicraft are so beneficial for building the hand muscles and developing hand-eye coordination.

7. Handicrafts Build Better Relationships

What kid doesn’t want intensive one-on-one time with mom and dad? Handicrafts provide that! When you look back on your childhood, do you have fond memories of helping your mom bake cookies? Helping your dad build birdhouses? Painting with your grandma?

You can show your child that you love them by taking the time to teach them how to succeed at something. As you continually work with them you will begin to better appreciate their natural abilities and they will feel your love and attentiveness.

Activities that we do as a family bind us across generations. Handicrafts are some of the best kinds of activities to build beautiful, lasting memories.

I hope these reasons to start doing handicrafts have motivated you to start adding them to your homeschool! 

And if you are ready to start adding handicrafts to your homeschool, jump over to our Handicrafts page for a list of over 80 handicrafts with links to resources to help you get started!