For a chance to win a FREE copy of Knit, Hook, and Spin: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Fiber Arts and Crafts, by Laurie Carlson, tell me about your favorite kids’ project in the comments below. I’ll toss your name into a hat and draw a lucky winner sometime mid-October.
Read more about Knit, Hook, and Spin and find a special project from Laurie’s book in the Oct/Nov issue of MaryJanesFarm. Stay tuned for more magazine-related giveaways. If you’re not yet a subscriber to my magazine, MaryJanesFarm, subscribe here for $19.95/year.
I am a Cloverbud 4-H leader and we make projects every meeting all year round introducing them to the different projects available to them when they become regulars.They will by them have an ididea what they are interested in learning more about. One project I love doing with them is doing a project called “Art all around me”. I have them paint their hand, make a hand print and them as it is drying I have them gather items around them. It can be scrap paper, yarn, twigs, flowers. ..whatever speaks to them is free game. Some will dig in mom’s purse for items to use..lol! Then they come back and decorate their piece. It is always interesting to see what they use. The kiddos who have done the project before always take it up a notch and really get into it. It really shows their creative growth 🙂
Although my kids are grown, this book looks like it would be fun to have for any family that has children who are interested in working with their hands. My kids learned simple knitting when they were 7 & 9 and we have a few of their knitted animals packed away in their childhood memory boxes.
I have to pick just one?? Ok, my all time favorite would be a newborn sweater that I have used as gifts for anyone I know having a baby. I love to use unbleached soft cotton. Warm and cozy for those little sweethearts❤️
this is a fantastic book for teaching grandchildren. Mine wanted to learn how to crochet.
Great examples, projects, colored photo’s & explains in detail just what to do. A follow along book for kids. Adults can make the projects right along with them. I love to teach children how to make a scarf for their first project. They pick out the color yarn, we get their first hook and go step by step. This book has a scarf project and many more. I would love to have this book in my home. I did get it once at my local library. I would prefer to have my own copy instead of having to photograph the pattern. Perhaps this will happen for me with any luck. Glad to see this book being offered. Winnie Jackson
To begin an easy project for children is a wool shawl that I love teaching to, using wool as my favorite so children can develop an appreciation for natural fibers to work with which includes involving the spinning wheel to keep the dying art alive. To create something with yarn takes skill and experience of craftsmanship, starting with a constant need to reach all levels to be proud of–no doubt, this fun-filled book chock-full of other pattern and project ideas sure will help children achieve their talents.
This book looks like so much fun! I would love to use this book to make crafts with my kids! I would have to say my favorite project to do with kids is making 3D animals. Every year during preschool time I would give the children an assignment to create any animal they wanted out of anything they had sitting around their home. Of course they needed some help from parents, but I felt that gave them a bonding opportunity. It was amazing how these animals turned out and the kids had so much fun. It helped expand their imagination!
I love most any project that you can drop and resume later, or one that is completed quickly. I’ve been teaching my granddaughter to sew. She made her cousin a pillowcase for her birthday and it was such a hit she has requests for a few more when she visits next! For her birthday I got her a kid’s cookbook and I can hardly wait to get started on that!
I work at a school for children with special needs. We have students from Preschool to 21 years old. We have an art teacher that works with the students doing adapted art projects. They are my absolute favorite! ❤
I am an avid reader. A favorite kids project I like is something I call “picture painter.” Once a child has read a book, she can sit down with watercolor paints/colored pencils/crayons/etc., and create a picture about the book. Using the picture as a jumpstart for sharing, the child tells the listeners about the book. It definitely promotes reading in children! Can you tell I am a retired teacher?
Sorry, what does awaiting moderation mean?
It means your comment is waiting for approval by me. Unfortunately, I have to sort through and delete those that are spam.
I have all grandsons, and because of interests their mother and I have, they are around fiber crafts all the time. One of my 9-YO grand-twins has been asking me to teach him to knit. This book would be a great start to show him the fundamentals of knitting. Thank you for offering this opportunity to win the book.
My favorite kid’s project is anything crocheted or knitted. My brother and I both learned to crochet at the same time from my mom. We are both left handers and she just sat opposite us to teach how to do it. I think anything fiber arts is great to teach a child. They learn how things are made to be used to make other things. Ie; wool, paper, etc.
Would love to win the book! Favorite kid project is making sock monkeys!!!!
Picking a favorite project is impossible, but looking back, a reoccurring theme whith my children has been wool. We made little wool animals and dolls, made costume accessories such as princess hats and satchels, capes, shoes out of wool felt. My youngest daughter enjoyed felting as a teen.
Now I have grandkids at the perfect age to start with!
My favorite kid project was with the students in my classroom. We made fleece blankets for the folks in the local nursing home. The kids also decorated plain paper to use as wrapping paper. It was a wonderful experience for them.
So far, my favorite art activity has been painting my grandkids feet and letting them walk on butcher paper. The prints can be cut to frame, become wrapping paper, or just a plain ole good time with no purpose except to have some fun and be creative.
I love handcrafting and so every little bit I host a party for my Grands such as a “Blanket Party.” We make fleece blankets and have a completion. I have had “paint parties” using acrylics and large patterns that are easy for them to do on canvas. It is their work and always great. They gift them usually at Christmas. We always end our party with Chili or some easy dish and it makes for a exciting evening Great way to enjoy each others company. The book would be of great help and excitement.
Our youngest granddaughter just turned 4 and for a good bit her Mom has called her Miss Muff. One day it just popped into my head that it would be fun to make the little one a tuffet. So, a couple of months ago, I happened on one at a quilt shop in Chapel Hill, NC and decided then and there it would be great for her. It took 64 strips of fabric and a form created by a husband and wife team in Cary, NC. It was quite a feet by the time I finished, but the giggles we got on her birthday made it very worthwhile. For good measure, I machine embroidered the poem, “Little Miss Muffet” which was released in 1901. She loves it as her place to hold her dolls and also to look at her books. She is beginning to take interest in all things that I do, so this book would be such fun to go through with her. Thank you.
kim w. says
My favorite kids project is a bean bag my son knit when he was four. It had a lot of
holes in it; so we put the beans in an old sock, tied it, then put the sock in the bean bag and sewed it shut. He was proud of what he made and had fun playing with
it too.
Not sure I can pick one specific craft so I’ll go with anything where kids can get dirty…gluing, paper machete, finger painting…something along those lines.
My favorite kids project is one I saw on the Raverly website a variety of animals by Heidi Bear. Love them
My son who is now 43 is a cabinet maker and residence builder. He loves the fine art of finish work on cabinets, furniture. When he was 8, he made a Superman hooked rug that I still have. My grandsons, 16 and 13, loves to build things, especially Lego monstrosities. They burn scenes with a wood burner. Both are very artistic. This is how we spent our art project time when they were small!!!
I have grandchildren who are just now old enough to do crafts, so looking forward to getting this book. My favorite thing to do when I am traveling is to crochet cotton washcloths
Im a music teacher but love the arts and crafts also. My students would love this book. My Grandma always made us slippers for Christmas, I still have a pair tucked away in my antique trunk.
We have 12 grandchildren(soon to be #13) and I have them help me with my herb projects. They plant, harvest, dry, use fresh, make tinctures, whatever the project is.
Love exposing them to skills using their hands.
While living on the island of Oahu, our Girl Scout Troop was working on our sewing badge. I had fun learning to knit, embroidery and sew kitchen towels. I continue to
have peaceful moments with doing any one of these projects. Now I will be piecing
together the beautiful 10 inch pieces if fabric. This winter will be amazing!
I taught my granddaughter counted cross stitch, just as I taught my own daughters sewing and needlework. It paid off for one of the daughters as she now sells her embroidered jewelry through Etsy. I also do origami with children. It teaches so many skills, one of which is the art of focusing!
Making your first tubular neck scarf on a beginner’s loom from your favorite craft store. Guaranteed to keep any boy or girl home sick or just a day inside due to bad weather. It’s magic watching the scarf appear, and satisfaction for any child to know they created it themselves. Use multiple colored yarn for your favorite sports team or school colors.
Leeza Perry
Ohio New Subscriber 2016
One of my favorite craft to do with my grandchildren is to make home made play dough and play with them immediately after. Nothing like fresh home made play dough. You even get to make whatever color that moves you.
I love teaching my grandchildren to embroider and sew. When my eldest granddaughter caught the quiltin bug 9 years ago, she curled up next to me in bed and told me she now understood why I liked it so much. My three younger granddaughters love to embroider and one if them is busy making early Christmas gifts for her friends.
I would love to share the gift of needlework and crafting with my granddaughters. They already show some interest.
I have been teaching a group of girls (from the ages of 5 to 20) for the past 13 years how to embroidery. It is so much fun to see how much they enjoy embroidery and just a great time spent together talking, enjoying time together.
I hope to be able to teach my granddaughters how to knit, crochet, embroider and sew. This would be a very good primer to pass onto them. I was a 4-H leader for a quilting club, when my daughter was in high school. It was very rewarding, though I don’t want to be a leader again, I do want to teach my granddaughters these old pastimes that are becoming a lost art.
sew 2 fabric pillowcase.
As i write they are constructing their own tree house! It is exciting to see their enthusiasm and creativity, hardwork and cooperation.
I love any project that introduces children to some “old fashioned” skills
I love any project that introduces children to “old fashioned” crafts/hobbies/skills.
Over the years my grandkids who range from 8 to 19 have enjoyed crafting with me. We have sewn pillows, shorts, aprons, fleece pj pants,etc. recently my 14 year old granddaughter, Julia and I have begun making little dresses for underprivileged girls in poor countries. We are also making diapers out of the bottoms of old tshirts, and sanitary napkin kits for the young women. we also enjoy stamping cards, painting birdhouses, flower arranging, making clay figurines and gifts for others. We also spend time with our hens and 2 indoor cats. We grow zinnias by the hundreds, have an apple orchard, and spend time riding around our 20 acres of “heaven” on our Ranger. We have attempted knitting but my knowledge has always been very
Limited. Maybe this book will help us find new joy in yarns. Love your magazine. Connie Lambert
I just retired after working 23 yrs. in our local school district as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. Therapy for children is all based around play and plenty of crafts so I have a multitude of actvities I have done w/ kids, tooo… many favorites to decide on just one.
My favorite is crocheting and sewing for my grandbabies. I can’t wait to teach my granddaughter how to sew, crochet, quilt and all the fun crafts there are out there. She is two years old loves to dig into Grammy’s sewing notions and my gallon button jar.
My favorite is cooking and whatever with the great grandkids. Yearly my grandson and I have to go to the pumpkin patch. He likes to make pumpkin pie and knit with me, and also cook
As a home schooling momma I love Laurie’s books! We have used her books and activities in the many unit studies we have done. I have so many favorite activities and projects that the kids have done. I really like the scarves my daughter has knitted or the handmade journals they created.
Projects that I can teach my grandchildren …some of the forgotten arts of the past. They love learning new things and I love that they are learning from the past.
At summer camp I had a group of 6 kids who wanted to make a fairy house. I armed myself with a glue gun and the kids ran through the forest collecting materials to build a spectacular fairy house with cobble stone pathway. We also made a fairy bed for the inside. The fairy house was the most exciting project for these kids. When I see them around town they still say “Mrs. Carlson I still remember the time we made the fairy house. It was a time to remember!
Twigs and Glue! It is amazing what kids nvision when gluing twigs into rafts, buildings, fences, etc.
I am a new grandma of 2 beautiful girls and would love to have some craft projects for when they are older.
My Kids are grown but have 9 Homeschooling Grandchildren I’d to share projects with.
Oh my, we love so many crafts it is hard to choose just one. Alpacas and sheep are on our agenda, so this would make a fun addition to that journey.
This is a seriously hard choice, as our family LOVES to do crafts and projects. I think I’m going to have to go with finger-knitting, as quite a few of my children have caught on how to do it and thoroughly enjoy it!!! They have made headbands for newborns, “leashes” for their stuffed animals, belts, and scarves, to name a few.
One of my son’s in his woodworking class made a wooden napkin ho!dear he’s in his 30s now with children of his own but I still have and use that ho!der, very proud of him for that memory.