I always loved Charlotte Mason’s philosophy on life: our relationships with different things.
- Relationship with ourselves
- Relationship with family
- Relationship with nature
- Relationship with history
- Relationship with God (or spiritual to be more general)
- Relationship with community
- Relationship with things (not consumerism, handicrafts)
Charlotte Mason believes that it is the combination of all of these relationships that make us the whole person that we are.
Yes, we all get involved in vices. Nobody is perfect. Some of us drink alcohol too much, some smoke, some take illegal drugs, and others may take advantage of Grande Vegas casino bonuses just a little too much.
But by recognizing that we have different relationships and including those relationships in our own lives as well as the education to our children, we can enjoy taking advantage of GrandeVegascasinobonuses.com without getting ourselves into trouble.
Here are some handicrafts that you may want to consider starting during these crazy times when we something to think about beyond the craziness going on in society. Plus, there are many people who believe that children get themselves into trouble because the teaching of handicrafts to children has not been taught to the current generation.
Remember, this is 2023. None of these handicrafts are boy specific or girl specific. If your child enjoys doing them, courage them to do them.
1. Woodworking
This could either include just using hand tools and doing wood carvings or it could involve creating bigger projects using electric tools.
This website has a great article titled, “Why you should consider woodworking as your new hobby.” I would suggest reading it.
2. Painting
Everybody has painted using simple tempera paints in school. Actually, a lot of schools seem to be moving away from encouraging kids to do this, because it is too messy. But regardless, try expanding painting to using other types of medium.
But be sure to get the correct tools for the job. If you use cheap paper, even if the paints are good paints, the experience will not be pleasant.
The Bob Ross vidoes are excellent if you want learn how to use oil paints.
If you want to use watercolors, different techniques are used as well as different materials.
3. Drawing
Drawing is always fun, but the pencils that one would use for drawing are not your standard 2H people. Drawing pencils are inexpensive, but it is still worth investing in the correct pencils.
Each year, for the holidays, I always brought my kids a very nice hard cover drawing book. I brought one of those with over 200 pages in it, so it would take them several years to use the paper in the books. But these books are something they have kept through adulthood, and it is interesting to see how their art skills have progressed from when they first got their books (age 10) to now (age 20).
4. Alcohol Markers
This is actually a new hobby. Alcohol markers work differently than your standard crayola markers most kids get. One advantage of alcohol markers is that you don’t see the smear lines. The second advantage is with the better quality alcohol markers, you can smear the markers together to do shading, as you would do with paints.
Once you start to work with alcohol markers, you are never going to want to go back to traditional crayola markers.
5. Crocketing
If you or your child is more interested in the 3D type of art, try your hand at crocketing. There are some excellent videos to learn from. Since crocketing is 3D, it very difficult to learn this still from a book. But with videos, it becomes super easy.
My son self taught himself to crocket. He started out with the traditional scarves and hats, but then quickly progressed to creating stuffed animals. Now he has moved onto non-traditional hats.
The crocket needle is very inexpensive, but depending on the yarn that you get, the price will vary.
6. Knitting
Knitting is another yarn craft. Some people enjoy crocketing while others prefer knitting. But as with crocketing, it is much easier to learn from a video than a book.
7. Cooking
Most of us think of cooking as “making dinner”, but when you take the whole thing into consideration, it becomes a whole lot more. There is chemistry. There is the visual presentation. Their is the smells and taste and touch. It is a multi-sensory experience.
As long as you teach a child about safety in the kitchen, children as young as 6 can start to learn about cooking. Young children will need adult supervision, but they demonstrate that they can handle the safety part of things, encourage them to do more and more.
8. Model Railroading
Model railroading is a hobby that requires a lot of space. If you don’t have a basement or an attic, this is a hobby that might be hard to get into.
9. Dioramas
All of the scenary supplies that are used in model railroading can be used for making dioramas.
Woodland scenics is a company take makes excellent materials. They sell individual supplies as well as construction kits. Look under their “Scene-A-Rama” series.
10. Play Dough and clay modeling
Play Dough is not just for kids. It is well worth it to check out a book on some simple techniques that are used in this area of 3D art. But remember that there are different types of clay. Some clay is specifically designed to NOT dry out. Others air dry, while others require heat to dry them. That heat can sometimes be just your over, while some clay will require temperatures that your home oven cannot go up to.
11. Painting ceramics
Painting ceramics is always fun. Plates, bowels, vases, or even Snoopy sitting on his doghouse. Let your imagination take over.
The list goes on …
These are just some ideas, but there are plenty more … magic, artificial flowers, gardening, murals, animation, photography, videography, stop motion movies, and even Legos and Robotics.
Browse your local library, bookstore, or online videos to see what interests you. And don’t be afraid to try.
