Dear Homeschool Mom Who Hates Crafts

Dear homeschool mom who hates crafts,

I am you. I am with you. I feel your pain and I am struggling with this – with you. If you have children who love crafting, this can be even trickier.

It’s almost like there are angels in heaven just laughing at you, eating popcorn, waiting to see how you will handle crafting projects. Well, it’s not fun, but we can still have crafts in our homeschool. Not all moms are creative, some of us homeschool moms actually hate crafts, and that is OK. 

I knew once I started homeschooling my two youngest children, that arts and crafts would be an issue for me. I can’t draw to save my life, and I don’t like things getting messy. If I am being completely honest with myself, it actually gets me paranoid to see paint everywhere or markers everywhere. I have issues, I know.

That is why when I knew I had to provide my children with some sort of artistic and crafty ideas; I was almost paralyzed in dread. I didn’t tell anyone, of course. It’s just that in my head all I saw was paint everywhere and color marks on my floor or wall. I don’t know why I am speaking in the past tense, as if this dread has fled my psyche. It is still here, still paranoid of stains that won’t come off furniture or painted handprints on my wall.

However, fellow mom who hates crafts, we should find ways to “do” art and crafts in our homeschools. Did I forget to mention that I was an early learning teacher in my past?

This craft paranoia did not begin when I started homeschooling. It goes way back to my teaching days. We would HAVE to make crafts for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, holidays, and anything else that came up.

Clearly, I have a few choice words to give the person who invented glitter, and I have no qualms about it. I am sure he/she had a cleaning lady or liked to torture parents for some unknown reason.

As a teacher by profession, I did not only have to come up with crafts to do with 24 little humans, we also made art a part of our daily lesson plans because of the “benefits” it had on the kids. So, YUP, painting, coloring, drawing every day and having to clean up after all this was, to say the least, a challenge for me. 

Maybe that is what made me paranoid about arts and crafts in my homeschool, but I knew it had to be done. I understand how creating, and what the freedom of art does for children, so I can’t NOT do it with my own children.

Therein lies my dilemma. The homeschool mom, who hates crafts, has to do crafts. Boo!

Crafting has many benefits for children, despite my personal feelings about it:

• Crafting helps develop our children’s personalities.
• Crafting provides an outlet for them to express themselves.
• Crafting helps our children with concentrating on the task at hand.
• Crafting helps to perfect dexterity development and fine more skills.
• Crafting can be a way for parents to bond with kids.
• Crafting can help children build confidence and feel a sense of accomplishment.
• Crafting can help children with decision-making skills and making choices at an early age.

OK, OK! So, I get it. We should let our children do crafts. It truly had to be bearable for me and simple or else my children will just grow up lacking these skills forever. I am joking, but basically, that is how I felt inside.

The mess, the sticky glue hands, the floor full of scraps and glitter to clean up! I think I may be getting some anxiety as I am writing this.

Moving on, I want to share a couple of things that get me by with doing crafts and art in my homeschool:

The Kitchen Table Classroom is my go-to for all things and everything crafts.

I refuse to re-invent the wheel, especially when The Kitchen Table Classroom is so good at it! There are three things that I read on Jodi’s blog that had me sold. Jodi said that art should be fun – you don’t have to be an amazing artist to give your kids great art experiences. SOLD! She said art should be easy – art class doesn’t have to be expensive. SOLD! She also said that art class should be meaningful – we can let kids make decisions about their art and it becomes an outlet for them. SOLD X3!

Visit The Kitchen Table Classroom for all the arts and crafts ideas you need with clear and easy to follow instructions. It really has lifted a burden off my shoulders in this area. I am so grateful there are people out there like Jodi with gifts to share with other homeschooling families.

KiwiCo is like a little piece of heaven every month for moms who hate crafts.

I refuse to think this is a cop-out for homeschooling moms who hate crafts because children LOVE them. KiwiCo is a company that makes monthly deliveries to your doorstep for arts and craft activities that inspire kids to be scientists, creators, and innovators.

It literally is everything your student needs to create, explore and learn in one package that is delivered to you every month. KiwiCo has hands-on science and art projects for ages 0 – 16+ so every child in your homeschool can enjoy it.

If you like the idea of subscription boxes, then you will love this Ultimate List of Monthly Themed Subscription Boxes with a FREE Tinker Crate Box for HSG readers only.

So, to my fellow homeschool mom who hates crafts and art projects, you are not alone. I hope these ideas and sites help you take a load off and not feel so guilty for not being “into” arts and crafts. Let that burden go and hand it over to the folks who are great at it.

Sincerely,

Fellow mom and hater of crafts

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Jeannette Tuionetoa

Jeannette is a wife, mother and homeschooling mom. She has been mightily, saved by grace and is grateful for God’s sovereignty throughout her life’s journey. She has a Bachelor in English Education and her MBA. Jeannette is bi-lingual and currently lives in the Tongan Islands of the South Pacific. She posts daily freebies for homeschoolers!