Charlotte Mason for REAL Moms: Who Has Time for Handicrafts?

Don’t have time for crafting? It’s been a real struggle for me, but well worth the effort when I made it.

Children should be working with their hands to create useful and beautiful things–this is what Charlotte Mason believed, and it lines up well with the Bible, research, and what we observe daily.

Here is the scripture:

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

1 Thessalonians 4:11

Of course, “handicraft” is different. It’s not like the paper-and-popsicle type that are made today and tomorrow end up in File 13. These are OK in the early years when small children are developing their fine motor skills.

bookmarksBut as they mature, children should be involved in more permanent types of work.

Here are some actual definitions of the word:

…a particular skill of making decorative objects by hand.

…a skilled activity in which something is made in a traditional way with the hands rather than being produced by machines in a factory.

Here is my favorite:

…making things with your hands in a skillful way.

This does not always include paint and textiles, but it can. Here is a short and very partial list of the possibilities:

• nail and string art
• whittling
• bookmarks
• flower arranging
• origami
• houseplants
• clay
• flower pressing
• home decorating
• baking
• soap making
• leaf and flower printing
• stationery
• greeting cards
• embroidery
• air-dry clay
• hair dressing
• knitting
• crochet
• wreath making
• papier mache
• beading
• puppeteering
• doll house creations
• diaramas
• battle models
• fort building
• tree house building
• gardening
• book binding

Of course there is much more to share! All you have to do is click below and watch the vlog post: