My nieces, Makayla and Madeline, are visiting with us for the next couple of weeks. Aged 11 and 7, they have fun with my girls, Katie Rose and Ellie, ages 7 and 4. Since today was the last day of school for my school-age kiddo, we have been planning out our summer activities. Once again, Pinterest is a fabulous resource!
Among the fun things we have planned, we'll be learning a few things -- whether they know it or not!
Our first 'big' summer project: homemade laundry detergent
Imagine, if you will, five girls ages 11 to 4, sitting in a row across the kitchen island from me. They took turns helping. (AKA - In between the yelping and fussing, I'd allow the next kid 'in line' to help with the next step.)
Wait! you say, interrupting me. Five girls? My two girls, my two nieces, and my oldest daughter's best friend. Question answered. Let us proceed with story:
Each girl took at least two turns grating the Fels Naptha soap into the laundry bucket. A couple of them couldn't wait for their turn to come again. And a couple of them only wanted to take a turn when someone it was someone else's turn.
We added each additional ingredient, then started stirring. They got a big kick out of that. They were so interested in how it smelled that Katie Rose inhaled too deeply (despite Mommy warnings, I promise) and had a coughing fit.
By the time it was done, we were the proud creators of a large bucket of laundry detergent -- and I was the weary referee ready to stick her head in said large bucket!
Our next project will be sewing. My niece, Makayla, almost twelve and preparing to move up to middle school in the fall, has a more complicated project. She is making a ruffled purse as her first sewing project. (She will get to use the sewing machine, as well as doing hand-stitching.) My cadre of seven year olds (Katie Rose, Madeline, and KR's best friend) will be making fabric bookmarks to start. (Simple straight stitches.) If it goes well, we will move on to basic embroidery.
When I was just little, my grandma started me on crafts. I did a little stamped embroidery picturing a kitten and ball of yarn. I also remember making canvas 'coasters.' At around age 8, she then taught me how to crochet. My mom has never been fond of crocheting, but her mother and grandmother have both made many blankets. It's cool to be part of a legacy like that, isn't it?
What were your first craft projects? What did you like and which did you not like? Why?
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