Charlotte Mason Handicraft Resources for Homeschoolers (with free printables!)

Handicrafts are an essential part of the Charlotte Mason method and not only teach valuable skills, but can also allow your students to hone their habit of perfect execution. In this post, I’m sharing some of my favorite Charlotte Mason handicraft ideas and resources!

Charlotte Mason Handicrafts

The Handicrafts best fitted for children under nine seem to me to be chair-caning, carton-work, basket-work, Smyrna rugs, Japanese curtains, carving in cork, samplers on coarse canvas showing a variety of stitches, easy needlework, knitting (big needles and wool), etc. The points to be borne in mind in children’s handicrafts are: (a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like; (b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do; (c) that slipshod work should not be allowed; (d) and that, therefore, the children’s work should be kept well within their compass.

CHARLOTTE MASON (HOME EDUCATION)

…we know that the human hand is a wonderful and exquisite instrument to be used in a hundred movements exacting delicacy, direction and force; every such movement is a cause of joy as it leads to the pleasure of execution and the triumph of success. We begin to understand this and make some efforts to train the young in the deft handling of tools and the practice of handicrafts. Some day, perhaps, we shall see apprenticeship to trades revived, and good and beautiful work enforced. In so far, we are laying ourselves out to secure that each shall “live his life”; and that, not at his neighbour’s expense; because, so wonderful is the economy of the world that when a man really lives his life he benefits his neighbour as well as himself; we all thrive in the well-being of each.

CHARLOTTE MASON (Philosophy of Education)

Resources

Recommendations for Handicrafts (with instructions)
Charlotte Mason Series #8 – Handicrafts and Life Skills

Articles

AmblesideOnline Overview and Recommendations for Handicrafts
Handicrafts and Life Skills (with more ideas for handicrafts)

I love the idea of handicrafts, but executing them has been challenging for me. When I had younger children and we were still in our homeschool co-op, another mom was in charge of them, and beautiful things were learned and made. And even the first term of our first year doing handicrafts at home went well. But since then, it’s been somewhat hit or miss with some handicraft projects being more successful than others.

Ideally, when I pick our handicrafts, I usually look for things that my kids have shown interest in or that I think are practical skills that would be good for them to know. So that first term, we learned about healthy food and cooked meals together, which gave us a sense of accomplishment.

This term, we started this year’s garden, so I we picked out seeds (or used ones we had harvested in previous years), ordered gardening books to add to our home library, and we also watched the videos in the “Classroom” section of Seedtime during our handicraft time to hone our gardening skills. In the past, we’ve also done a children’s wilderness survival book and used some of those skills during our hikes. I honestly love that we can pick a different handicraft for each term (or year), and our choices are limitless.

I think the key for me personally with our handicraft lessons is that I have to get all of the supplies I’ll need for the term in advance, and I need to schedule intentional time for us to work on our handicrafts in the afternoon. This has become more evident as my daughter has gotten older, as she is less of a self-starter than her brother has always been. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as I think it’s good for me to be involved as well (and it’s also a learning opportunity for me!), but I need to realize that I can’t be as lax about it as I have been in the past. Gratifyingly, I’m already starting to see signs of both of them figuring out which handicrafts they like best and taking the initiative to plan projects on their own.

Ideas for Handicrafts

Here are a few ideas for handicrafts that we’ve done over the years (with links to resources we’ve used), those I’ve seen others doing, or those I’ve considered doing for us but haven’t planned yet:

So what would you add to these lists? What handicraft resources have been indispensable for you?

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