Handwork 'Can's' and 'Can't's' with little kids...

This is from a story from my sister-in-law Denise, in Ottawa.
I love her dry snapshot of (non) age-appropriate handwork!
I am often guilty of overestimating my own 4yro's comprehension, and so I'm grateful for Suzanne's help and insight from the Waldorf handwork pedagogy. Our craft sessions are more fun and satisfying.
Hooray for Sunday morning Playshops at the RAW Studio with Suzanne!

I don't know what school Luke goes to, only that it's somewhere in Ottawa....
Yesterday I was tasked with having a table of 6 kindergarten kids cut up pieces of fabric so we could sew a vest together. A. They wanted to cut little teeny tiny pieces. B. There was no pattern of a vest. C. The teacher thought the kids could sew with real needles and thread. Um, frankly, no. In fact, no to all of those. We made a paper mock up of a vest. We had a big talk about big and small pieces and they taped pieces of fabric to the paper vest. So, the teacher thought we could staple them on to be more secure. And, again, um, no, we're not having a paper vest! Luke and I took everything home, cut two vests out of old fleecy things that were stained with paint or mystery substances and fabric glued (yay, latex liqui-stitch) everything on. They look awesome and it took minutes! In fact we made two! The kids are putting on a "Elves and the Shoemaker" play. I am very very pleased with our vests and with our having found a reasonable (read quick and easy!) way to make them that did not require band-aids. Although I am allergic to latex, so I got hives. But otherwise a smashing success!