More Clay, Less Plastic

Each week, in the build up to Christmas, I’ll be sharing with you some of the crafts I have enjoyed with my little ones and how to recreate them at home. This week is the handprint tree. So far we’ve only done one of these with our eldest but the result has been something simple and yet memorable. I don’t know that I want her to do a new one, there’s something rather special about looking back at those tiny excited hands with each year that passes.

It could be argued that some of the skills that are most vital to our children are not how to do quadratic equations or conjugate a verb, but how to live sustainably and self-sufficiently. Being able to make our own clothes falls into this category; how empowering is it for a child to design and make their very own customised garment? This kind of empowerment also in turn lessens the stranglehold of the big clothing multinationals. The more people are able to make and mend their own clothes, the less dependant they are on cheap, sweat-shop made items.