Playing with Craft

Children love inspiration. Don't we all?

Making toys inspires children. They delight in the power of their hands and ideas. I recently sewed these lovely baby leprechauns with six year old students. Children sewed all their own sequins, around the fairy baby, and added stuffing. They were delighted with the little toys they made.What a treat, to see that magic through their eyes. Look what we can create!

Sorry this one is a little blurry- classrooms have tricky lighting for my camera :)

Then the children reminded me the real fun of sewing and crafting. Crafting is inspiration. And the craft is just the beginning. Crafts inspire play. And play inspires storytelling. And learning.

Now that they had little friends, they needed houses. What could build a house?

Blocks of course!

And some homes need a diving board into a lovely cool pool.

With a luxury view from the bedroom.

Legos also make awesome homes. With an open door :)

I encourage students to leave blank faces so they can imagine any expression, but a few insist on adding features. I let go when they have strong feelings towards needing eyes or mouths. After all, if I wanted it to look 'my way', I would make my own :)

I loved her idea to put a ring over the ruffled hat for an even fancier crown.

And finally, dollhouses are wonderful homes. Especially when they come with a pet tiger :)

Enjoy what you create!

Happy day :)

Many of our crafts are "Keepsake Crafts", meaning they look nice for years and become a treasured memory alongside the sweet sewing. Every now and again, I sew "Process Crafts" with children. These are the crafts to shove in pockets and forget outside after playing in the trees. They are the crafts that are meant for playing. They are a chance to let go. Don't worry overmuch about colors or forever. Let them become a memory. Become part of a story. Have fun crafting and playing :)

P.S.- if you would like detailed directions for making little fairy/gnome friends, check out our Forest Fairy Craft Book. Please note- is an affiliate link. Thank you from the forest should you decide to purchase one! Directions for the little hats are online here. Enjoy!

Elf Houses

Make your own Elf Houses!

Click here for the pdf directions

Last week was a fun adventure in my Dragonfly class.  I made rooms and the kids brought a thousand ideas.  I saw a workshops, homes, and even a dance studio!

Once we had the walls, I gave the children lots of paper scraps.

They inspired each other to keep adding more and more clever ideas.  This was one of my favorite open-ended activities ever.

I helped make the beds and tables, but the rest was all their creating.  And they got very creative.

Then they realized their fairies and elves could live in the houses.  How cool is that?

And my daughter stayed after school with her friends.  She said a gnome lived in her house.  Couldn't they make gnomes?

Of course.

And every gnome needs a disco-dance room in his house.

Elf houses quickly became elf-town.  And elf-town is ready to celebrate the holidays.  Happy holidays!