13/10/2022
I know what's coming, but hear me out...
Are crafts bad? In general, no they're not.
But how they're typically administered, yes they are.
Crafts are super fun. You'll never hear me say "abolish crafts!" Just like a puzzle is fun to create and finish, a craft can truly offer a comparable and enjoyable experience.
So when it is problematic?
Crafts are problematic when they are:
- Administered more than process driven experiences.
- Valued more than process driven experiences.
- Requiring more work from the adult to complete the craft (suggesting it's not developmentally appropriate).
A question I pose to early childhood educators is "what's your why when choosing art/craft experiences?"
If the objective is "this craft is so cute!" It's time to pause and reflect some more on our practice...
Every activity/investigation we offer children should be intentional. Consider, what will the child gain from the experience? How can it target various approaches to learning? Is this developmentally appropriate?
For young babies, toddlers, and most preschoolers, crafts are in reality, developmentally inappropriate. Why? Because it takes more from the adult than the child for the craft to "be." Children of these ages aren't thinking about making something concrete, but rather, are more interested in exploring and experimenting with materials - these are their authentic experiences that allows them to learn, investigate, practice, and discover!
Feel comfortable looking at their work and not being able to see something concrete. This isn't a time for them to make things, but we've become so focused on "cute products" to match our "cute themes" that we've overlooked developmentally appropriate practice.
Let's consider this... imagine a school-aged child has a science fair approaching, but the parent picks the project, picks the pictures, cuts out the pictures and tells the child how to design the pictures on the board. How is any of this helpful for the child? How does this help the child feel a sense of confidence in their abilities if someone else is doing any of the work for them? Sure there are some takeaways, but imagine how much more powerful and meaningful it would have been if he owned his own learning experience? I mean isn't that the point of any and every project despite age?
Funny thing is, we would find this unacceptable (adult doing the work for a school aged children - granted many do it all the time), yet we accept and applaud this for our babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Our little ones are worth more than adult-driven "cute" crafts. Their experiences are just as valuable as any person at any age, and deserve the same level of respect and intentionality.
Remember, children don't need a craft to learn how to follow directions. They follow directions literally all day long. More opportunities need to be designated to letting children figure things out!
Also, everyone throws "fine motor development" at me when I mention the drawbacks with crafts. But in actuality you get far greater fine motor practice with any open-ended, process driven experience. This is because a child can explore various materials in various ways for an extended period of time.
So I'm going to end with what I began with... there is a space and place for crafts. I wholeheartedly believe it. But ensure a child is old enough to actually make the craft, and offer it very occasionally to not diminish creative and innovative thinking. When we're process driven, a child is more inclined to embrace their unique approaches to learning while feeling a greater sense of autonomy, competency, and pride in their own work, learning, and experiences - because that's what it's truly about! 🙌
