Snuggle & Learn Quilts for Kids, my most recent Replique book, was all about making colorful, cuddly and educational quilts for kids.
It was written for adults to create these gifts of love for the special children in their life, but there’s another aspect to quilts and kids – teaching them to sew!
Over the years I’ve taught sewing to a number of different groups of kids. My daughter’s girl scout troop was among the first. They made vests to showcase their merit badges – and this was before I learned to quilt. After I became addicted to quilting I taught my daughter to quilt, but it wasn’t exactly her thing.
A few years later I decided that my 5th grade Sunday School classes could make charity quilts as a way of doing something for others in need. The boys especially enjoyed the “accelerator” on the sewing machine and all the kids seemed to like stitching.
This week I’m hoping for some helpful advice. My granddaughter Hanna is almost 5 and I’d like to plant some quilting seeds :-). Do you have any suggestions regarding quilting activities geared toward this age? The kids I’ve taught have always been older and I’d rather not reinvent the wheel. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
Wemdy says
I have had kids do a “dot to dot” picture but instead of a pencil, I have them use a sewing machine threaded or unthreaded. Careful adult supervision required. .
Another idea is to have the child color a picture with regular crayons on muslin (taped securely to a table) and then you would border it, layer and quilt it.
Carmen Sommers says
How about a rag quilt? Very easy straight stitching. It teaches them to sew a straight line and pick colors besides they are warm and toasty and it wouldn’t take a ton of fabric to make one their size.
Bonnie Camp says
Hi Chris,
This is the 2nd try at sending a message. I’m unfamiliar with the blog world.
When granddaughter, megan, was 5 and younger I let her play with my cut blocks to make 4 patches or to lay them all out on the floor and make diagonals, squares, etc. Then we would make her a quilt from what she arranged. 2 years ago we went to my stash and made a sudoku (sp?) quilt and she could use anything she saw there. She chose purples and greens and came up with a set of 9 funky colors that we put together. No one had printed the pattern for quilters yet, so we used the puzzle solution found in the paper from the previous day. it worked! She is not interested in the sewing machine anymore, but helps me choose fabrics at the
Sharon says
Put her on your lap and away you sew. She will love it. Emily and I just made a bag to match her “princess” dress. I also just did a program for the Building for Kids (Children’s Museum) and they cut and glued fabric (to paper) making a crazy patch quilt that was framed for them to take home. Even the youngest ones loved doing it, and the 5 year olds were pros.