Sewing Projects For Children
Interesting Patterns and Activities for Kids to Sew During Holidays
If you are looking for some different activities to do with children during the holidays, how about looking at some sewing projects. There are many interesting projects.
Giving youngsters sewing projects provides them with interesting things to make and do during the holiday period, therefore perhaps introducing them to a new interest or hobby. In addition to this, there are also learning benefits, thereby combining fun and education.
Sewing Projects for Young Children.
There are many suitable sewing projects for children of all ages. Young children will enjoy simple projects, working with large, round-ended needles and felt or burlap. Simple shapes can be cut out for the youngsters to stitch around. Easy shapes include flowers, hearts, circles and stars. Looking through free clipart shapes can be a useful way to find patterns that can be printed and copied onto felt.
A more advanced project would be to stitch the two shapes together and stuffed. If the shape was a teddy or an animal such as a dog, then this could make a cute toy.
Sewing Projects for Older Children
For older children then projects could include making soft toys. These can be great fun and the children can chose to make their toy cute and cuddly or horrible and scary. Giving a child a couple of old socks, some scrap fabric and some stuffing could result in some interesting results. Glove puppets are also fun to make good for encouraging creative play.
Both boys and girls can enjoy sewing projects. Purses, boot-bags, pencil cases and little cozies can be suitable projects for all. Simple belts are also useful to make and these can be adapted to meet the child’s level of ability – and interests! A belt could have a few pockets for keeping toys or dolls - or how about making a ‘bug catcher belt’. This would include pockets to carry a magnifying glass for looking at bugs, a small notepad for writing what has been seen, a torch for looking under rocks and anything else that the intrepid bug catcher should carry!
Finding Free Projects on the Internet
Don’t worry if you are not a sewer or needleworker yourself. Help is at hand! There are some great projects available on the internet which you simply need to print out.
- Ralph the Dog Hand Puppet (includes full instructions, a materials list and a printable pattern).
- Bean Bag Baby (made from a sock, project could be varied by sewing arms and legs, making and sewing accessories etc)
- Felt Angel Pocket(includes full instructions)
Sewing and Learning Skills
Creative Skills: Sewing projects help youngsters develop their creative skills, however in addition to this they also help develop other skills. Threading needles, making stitches and working with both hands will help young children will also develop coordination skills.
Thinking Skills: Children of all ages will benefit from having their thinking skills challenged. Older children can be given written instructions and be left to work out how to approach the project.
Numeracy Skills: Sewing projects will also help youngsters with their numeracy skills. Having to measure fabric, count stitches, work out sizes etc will all help children build on their maths knowledge.
For more information about other crafts to do with children take a look at our Kids Crafts section at Suite101.
Take a look around the Sewing and Needlework topic at Suite101 for more interesting reading and needlework ideas.
