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How much time do you spend doing arts and crafts?

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I have a question. How much time do you spend doing arts and crafts with your children?

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Two origami fish I made with the kids the other day. Although my origami skills are improving, I do wonder if I spend enough time on creative pursuits with the kids.

My eldest daughter, Helen, has developed a love of origami. A couple of times a week, Helen, her little sister Izzy and I will crowd around a computer monitor and watch origami demonstrations on YouTube. With varying degrees of success, we will then try and replicate what we have seen on screen.

It’s quite a fun pastime and, most of the time, we all manage to make something fairly decent. Even Izzy, who is not renowned for being patient, will sit quietly as I help her fold, crease and turn her sheet of paper until it becomes recognizable as a fish, a frog or fortune teller.

This love of origami, however, is the exception rather than the rule. Arts and crafts are not something I have ever excelled at with the children.

I definitely did more with Helen before she started school. She would ask to do arts and crafts and even today refers to herself as an “artist”.

Izzy hasn’t yet started school. Although we have more time in each other’s company, we do not spend every day doing potato prints or colouring in activity sheets.

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The classic; an origami fortune teller. In the background, a cat mask made by Izzy with her French teacher.

Then again, she’s different to her sister. Izzy doesn’t seem as interested in creative pursuits, preferring instead to act out role play games with toys, bake cakes and biscuits or play sports.

Izzy is her own person with her own interests. She will, of course, develop at her own speed. I still find myself a little concerned that she isn’t more interested in drawing, painting and so on.

There is probably a certain amount of second child syndrome at play here. With Helen, both Mrs Adams and I had time indulge her. That’s not the case with Izzy.

Then again, maybe I am worrying too much. To quote my mother “you barely went near a pencil until you were five years old.” Maybe it’s simply a case of ‘like father like daughter’.

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12 thoughts on “How much time do you spend doing arts and crafts?”

  1. In all honesty we don’t spend that much time doing arts and crafts at home. We’re both very outdoors, sporty people so most of our free time is spent pursuing those interest. That said, our two both go to nursery twice a week who do loads of craft sessions with them and my mum, who looks after them twice a week, is also a craftaholic, so hopefully they get a nice balance. It always pleases me when they bring something to show me and we display it with pride. Maybe your second will, as your mother says, be just like you and pick it up at a later date.
    Potty Adventures
    #binkylinky

    1. You do raise an interesting point. My youngest does arts and crafts at pre-school,. It’s not like they live in an arts and crafts drought, I just wonder if we could do more. Like your kids’ though, I encourage outdoor play as much as possible.

  2. Those crafts look great John. I’ve never thought about trying origami with our daughter (6). She’s always loved her crafts and there’s a growing problem of what to do with them all. As much as we love to see our children making, doing and using their imaginations away from a screen, let’s face it, it can be messy and like i say, we have to store them somewhere!…

    1. Oh my word, yes, what do you do with them all? I once heard of a mum who kept everything – yes everything – their kid made. Can you imagine?

    1. Mine will draw if left alone. In fact I purposefully let them get bored sometimes. They have to learn how to entertain themselves in my opinion.

        1. I think we can all be guilty of jumping in and trying to entertain our kids. I’ve come to learn they have to get bored and learn to entertain themselves.

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