Lauren Hakala

In the days of busy households parents are feeling the need to accomplish a lot.  The tasks of the household are being done fast, often interrupted, and are becoming unenjoyable tasks. It can be challenging maintaining a home with a young child in-tow.  In this blog I will explain to you how to move toward having a handmade home.

When you are a parent of young children, planning what you have in your home and making a commitment to natural and handmade playthings is time consuming until you get the hang of how simple it can be. With just a few small doable changes, you will ease the chaos, slow things down and discover that creating in your home with young children is both possible and enjoyable. 

Why is handmade important? 

Children love to play with items that are lovingly made by people they know.  I think they can tell that a little bit of the craftsperson remains in the hand or home-made items they play with. Well-built, hand-crafted items are usually of better quality and last a lot longer.  My husband once turned a wooden truck into a box truck to imitate the big box trucks he drove for work.  We still have that truck, and our son is now 21 (Find the Full Story HERE).  It meant a lot to him because it was made with love and thoughtfulness and it was relevant to our family experience. The love and attention shown by the giver of a handmade object is directly felt and is reciprocated upon use.

Children also enjoy being a part of the process. They can participate in many ways from gathering the materials to making,  and cleaning up. It might not be in all one session for them. Allow children to do what they can. When creating and making with the younger child, if the skill needed is beyond their ability, create a side experience that they can do. If they start to act up a bit and want to mess it up, give them permission to do something else. They may go off, take their own time and do something else. Reassure them that you will finish, and let them know before you decide to put all of it away they may come back to it. A child who makes something with an adult will not always be invested in the outcome, they will enjoy the process of making something together. When the parent enjoys and likes the outcome, whatever form it takes, and respects the child's part in it, both can be proud of creating together.

What makes a Handmade Home?

A hand made home is one that reflects the personalities and interests of the people that reside there. This can be done by stocking your home with items to create with, making time to create, and providing common spaces in which to make and create what is to be used in your home. Having a good sense of the materials needed for a handmade home is key. Some suggestions to have on hand, include:

• For crafts (keep these in a basket or bin to be used with supervision)

  • Assorted kinds of paper 

  • Glue (Find a recipe HERE)

  • Crayons and pencils (with a sharpener)

  • A simple sewing kit

  • Wool Stuffing or roving

  • Pieces of wool felt or other fabrics

  • Play Dough (Find a recipe HERE)

  • Paints and brushes

  • Large wooden beads

  • Yarn

  • Yogurt containers or other plastic container

  • Paper plates

  • Apron, smock, or oversized T-shirt

• In the kitchen 

  • A well-stocked pantry or cupboard with basic ingredients for cooking and baking

  • Pots, pans, and other kid-friendly kitchen utensils for mixing, dumping, and playing

  • Apron

  • Cookbooks or favorite recipes

How to Make time for the Handmade

The space and time set aside for such activities is just as important if not more so than the materials: crafternoons, baking days, mending moments, a nightly breath of fresh air for woodsy walks with collection baskets. Call this time what you want, but the key is to slow down and get these times built into your schedule. I highly recommend starting simply by setting aside time at least once a week for a family activity, whatever it may be. This can be tricky at first to schedule, but you will not regret it; carving out time for each other is a loving deed. There will be much to look forward to and with some planning you’ll find you need very little to create meaningful time for creating together.