When do you think children should be introduced to crafting? This may seem a silly question but if you are a serious crafter then you will know the price of all your craft products and do you want tiny hands using all your nicely stacked ink pads, mixing up your glitter, and cutting up all your expensive paper?
Maybe the real question, as crafters, we should be asking is ‘can you put a price on sharing crafts with children?’ Currently, the government has dismissed art and craft, along with other lessons, as not that important, instead putting the emphasis on maths and English. Yes, children do need to be able to count and read, however, what is becoming more apparent is that children are also suffering more from their mental health. Is this because they have no time to be creative, to just rest and be one with a stick of glue and some paper?
The Little Crafter's First Drawing of Herself. (Aged 3 & 1 month)
If you do a search for ‘how does knitting affect the brain’, you will find many different articles all reflecting the positive side to knitting, how it keeps the brain alert, and helps reduce anxiety, being just a couple of the many benefits. Now replace knitting for crafting and you will have the same outcome, being creative opens up your imagination, you begin to use hand-eye coordination, you are making something and we all know how it feels when you sit back after a few hours of crafting and go ‘Wow, I made that.’ Along the way from beginning your craft project to finishing it, you have imagined many different ways of creating something new, these will have been stored in your memory and are ready for when you start a new project, we grow, we learn, we create.
Now imagine how that must be for a child, just beginning along their journey of learning, their brain is a little sponge that just wants to soak up as much information as possible. Imagine the pleasure of being able to give someone important to them, their finished creation, and for that person to be thrilled at receiving such a gift, putting it on display for everyone to see.
So the answer to the question 'What Age Can Little One's Start Crafting?' should be as soon as possible. The Little Crafter has been surrounded with crafts, she is the first one to join in when crafting is mentioned, she will stick stickers to anything and she is allowed, within reason. She has access to crayons, paint, stickers, scissors, glue, paper, and a whole lot more, and yes it is some of the expensive products but her well-being is more important than a piece of paper and most kits come with more than one sheet anyway!