Christmas Crafting
pamelamyers | December 22, 2012
Sam is so very into crafts lately. She is always asking us to make crafts with her. It doesn’t matter what kind — if it involves glue, scissors, felt, paper, pompoms, pipe cleaners, you name it. She is in! Since it is Christmas-time, we have been letting her do all kinds of crafty things. If you recall, she brought some of her snowmen crafts to Santa.
At my mom’s house, she does just as many crafts as she does at home. She takes it all very seriously, too. When she is into whatever she is making, she is very focused. I have tried to guide her a bit, but at the same time I am backing off more and more. I mean, what do I care if the pieces are not on just right? As long as she is happy, and proud of her creation, that is all that matters.
Recently, I hung some ribbon so that I could display all of her handiwork. I think she did pretty well.
The pink snowman on the right is one of my favorites, just because he was so fun to make. It started out with his body, his hat, his eyes and nose, and then I asked her if he needed a scarf, which of course he did. Then she kept adding more and more scarves because, as Sam informed me, he was cold. You can barely see his body, but that is exactly what she was trying to do, cover him up. The big white paper on the window sill started out as a snowflake. I was explaining to her that she could cut all kinds of strips and pieces of paper and glue them on in the shape of a snowflake. Her pieces were a little bigger than I expected…
I love all the foam crafts. They are so easy to do since there is no glue involved and she can really go crazy all by herself. We made a whole bunch of trees, gingerbread men, and snowmen.
The wooden mask above was a real trial to my somewhat OCD personality. It was very hard for me to not try to get her to color it in just right. That is one thing I have had to learn, as a parent, is to step back and let her do what she wants to do and to not dictate her creativity, her play, her imagination. It is difficult to not want her to do everything perfectly, since I am such a perfectionist. But I am learning, I step aside, I let her imagination go, and I am so rewarded. Listening to her tell me about what she is doing, and hearing her explanations, like that the snowman was cold, or that the ornaments have to hang on top of one another so they can hug, is incredibly rewarding. Having a child really opens your eyes and your mind in ways you never thought possible, at least not since your own childhood. I am learning to let go, to be a child again, and there is something very special about that.