|
Kids Sewing – Teaching Young Ones How To Sew
What are the benefits of kids sewing? I mentioned when I began this sewing journey that I learned to sew as a kid, as an eight year old as a matter of fact.
I attribute learning to sew as a kid, to my love of sewing as an adult. I learned to sew because I wanted to, not because I had to, and that is one of the keys to any child developing a life-long love of sewing. In my mind boys as well as girls should be taught to sew, since sewing is really a life skill that is being taught. The discipline taught by learning to sew can and does extend itself into other areas of life. That brings me to some other points. Sewing teaching some key life skills. Kids sewing creates:
• Discipline • Patience • The ability to follow instructions • Mechanical skills • It brings out creativity • Independence • Self-confidence
The key is for the child to want to learn to sew or for it to be made such fun that even if they don’t want to learn at first, they will soon change their mind and see sewing as not such a bad thing to learn, even if they never directly use these skills later in life.
Kids sewing also leads to the development of career skills. As brought out in the sewing related occupations pages, having sewing skills can lead to a broad range of occupations, some that require use of sewing skills and some that do not.
Teaching children to sew is quite a bit different than teaching an adult, there are more factors to consider that are specific to children.
What are some of these factors in kids sewing? As an example I use the comparison between a three year old and an eight year old.
First of all one has to consider the child’s developmental age. A child of three does not have the cognitive development that a child of eight may have. In other words, the comprehension of a three year old is not the same as that of an eight year old, so what a child of three can be taught is different from what an eight year old can be taught. If you don’t think that this is true, just think back to when you were a child of three, then when you were eight and you will see that this is true.
One also has to consider the development of the child’s motor skills. A child of three does not have the motor skills that an eight year old has. A younger child also does not have the same sense of danger around machinery, such as a sewing machine or serger that an older child would have developed. So working with sewing equipment or tools has to be taught in stages, and requires different levels of supervision depending upon the age of the child.
Another factor to consider in kids sewing is attention span. A younger child may not have the same attention span as an older child; therefore, learning sessions may have to be shorter for a younger child.
One has to consider the emotional maturity of the child for kids sewing at any age. Does the child get frustrated easily and want to give up if the task seems not to be going their way or if the task seems hard? I have also found that teaching a child anything also depends upon how independent minded the youngster is. What I mean by this is, a child who wants to do everything themselves and their way has to be taught differently than a child who is willing to take direction and to do things the way they are being taught to. There is nothing wrong with independence in a child, but there are certain steps to learning anything and this must be reinforced with an independent minded child. Once such a child learns the basics and is willing to learn the basics in a progressive way, then that child’s creativity will soar later on!
Once these factors and others are taken into account then the fun can begin. A child as young as three can be taught to sew as long as the parent or other instructor keeps in mind the developmental stage of the child. There are some great sites with great information about kids sewing click here on the link to Buzzle.com
and click here on the link to sewing.org for more information For a nice little children’s sewing video, click here on the link to Stores Online 
We always need clothing and we always need furnishings, even in tough economic times. So whether we make our own clothing or purchase them ready made. Teaching our kids to sew can have lasting benefits.
But what about those that want to become sewing instructors specializing in teaching children? For a great web based site for e-sewing lessons, click below on eSewing Workshop.com.
Sewing Business Home Page
|
