10 old-fashioned crafty basics to get your kids through childhood

Penny Flanagan

About three years ago, I started working for Kidspot as the resident crafting weirdo. You know the type: we post stuff on Pinterest all the time and while you admire our dedication, you actually find yourself thinking: “Who has the time?” or “How long would I have to keep THAT before I could throw it out?”

But I pressed on and now my garage is full of crafting crap that nobody wants. I even started roping in a friend and her toddler: inviting them over for crafternoons so that I could then send them home with the results. She’s onto me now and so she refuses to accept my invitations unless I promise not to send the egg shell mosaic craft home with her.

Anyway, life is all about the journey and as long as you have a garage or a senile old aunt who thinks a paddlepop stick wreath is a thoughtful gift, you should really give some old fashioned crafting a try. Especially if you are a parent: for some reason small children think you are the second coming if you offer them a table full of toilet rolls, glitter and glue.

In my early years as a crafter, I realised there were certain basics that I thought I knew, but when it came to actually doing them, my memory was hazy on the details.

For instance, I couldn’t remember how to make a paper doll chain, despite the fact that my friend Petrina and I had strung manic chains of paper people all over her rumpus room one rainy Sunday in 1978.

Below are 10 craft classics you really should know if you are a parent. If these things ring a bell but you’re not convinced you could actually execute them, let me refresh your memory …