I won a trip to Type A Mom Conference thanks to Whrrl.com, so I will be taking a week off ! But that doesn’t mean that No Time For Flash Cards won’t be updated daily, I have lined up 6 amazing guest posts from writers that will blow your socks off. There will be crafts like today’s adorable sewing project from Kimberly of You Can’t Diaper Their Faces, posts about books and literacy, and even an essay about parenting. Do not miss it.

Sewing with Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers.

Every time I set up my sewing machine (and I do have to set it up each time I use it, oh, how I dream of a sewing room!,) EcoKid (my daughter) wants to sew with me.  She’s an almost-four year old whose fine motor skills are a little delayed; I’m just not willing to risk giving her a go on the machine just yet.  But I hate to say no to a genuine interest, so I developed the following craft for her as an introduction to sewing.  She loves it and I hope that you will too!

Here we go!

1.  Gather your materials.  You will need some fabric scraps (try for a variety of colours, patterns, and textures to make it really interesting for your child,) glitter glue (or plain white glue—my daughter never misses a chance to use glitter glue though!,) brightly coloured construction paper, a black marker, and scissors.

2.  Ask your child what kind of clothes s/he would like to “sew.”  Draw outlines of the garments on the construction paper.  (My daughter is forgiving of my terrible drawing skills; I hope you will be too!)

3.  If your child can cut following lines, have her/him cut out the garments you’ve drawn.  My daughter is still struggling to use scissors, so I cut them out and then gave her the paper left behind along with her training scissors so she could practise cutting in a manner that’s not frustrating for her.

4.  Cut up your fabric scraps.  Cut them into various sizes and shapes and talk to your child about the shapes you’re making.  Ask her/him if there are any shapes s/he’d like to have for the project.  My daughter always asks for triangles and trapezoids!  (She’s a bit of a geometry nut .)

5.  Now let your child loose with the glitter glue, fabric scraps, and the garments you’ve cut from construction paper.  I like to keep it very free form, allowing my daughter to choose where and what to paste.  We talk a lot about the texture of the fabrics and the colours and shapes she’s choosing.  She especially likes it when I have some ribbon in the scraps; those are always chosen first!

6.  Let the glue dry… and congratulate your child on some terrific sewing!

And keeping in Allie’s fine tradition, here are some great books for kids that feature sewing:

Stitchin’ and Pullin’: A Gee’s Bend Quilt by Patricia McKissack

Something From Nothing by Phoebe Gilman

Nurse Lugton’s Curtain by Virginia Woolf  (yes, that Virginia Woolf!)

My Forever Dress by Harriet Ziefert

Good Families Don’t by Robert Munsch

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Kimberly Bewick is a mom of 2 and a  Canadian expat living in Turkey . Her blog You Can’t Diaper Their Faces : a guide to modern mothering is a must read for any mom, modern or not.