I recently read The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. It was fabulous and left me feeling very inspired to incorporate more creative activities into our daily lives.
One of the activities that she suggests is embroidery for children. I was initially a little freaked out by the prospect. My daughter Hannah is 4 1/2 and I could see her putting an eye out. But the fabulous SouleMama said that you could use loosely woven fabric with a dull tapestry needle. And when Hannah saw the pictures of the Soule kids embroidering she was extremely enthusiastic about the idea. So I decided to give it a go. I’ve been meaning to try embroidery myself, so if Hannah didn’t like it I could use the materials and no harm would be done.
Hannah chose a pink hoop and pink thread, to no one’s surprise
I loaded up the kids and trucked off to our local craft store and bought embroidery thread and hoops. Which wasn’t a great experience. What is it with craft stores? You would expect them to be kid-friendly, but they are not. There are tons of tempting and breakable items at eye level, just begging for a small child to explore. But that’s strongly discouraged. The result is rather nightmarish if you have several small companions in tow. Luckily, I made it out alive and with the supplies we needed.
Working from the reverse, it’s hard to remember which side to put the thread through
Hannah was really eager to get started. The biggest challenge for her was remembering which side to put the thread through. She always wants to put the needle in the top, which doesn’t work so well. But she did remarkably well. She figured out how to pull the needle back out if she inserted it the wrong way. I rescued her a few times, but not as many as I anticipated. For the most part I left her to work and she did it on her own.
Checking the sharpness of the needle (it was really dull, I promise)
It did take some work on my part to convince Hannah to do it all herself. She wanted me to make it look ‘right’ – make the sun look perfectly circular or the feet just the right size. In the end I was able to convince her that everyone likes her work better than mine. Which is true. Mediocre embroidery from a 30-something doesn’t net the same accolades as early attempts by a 4-year-old. Too bad, really. Wouldn’t we all love to get rave reviews for absolutely everything we did?
That’s Hannah wearing a pink dress, with the sun at the top right
I would highly recommend embroidery as an activity for preschoolers. The finished product can be made into a pillow or framed. I think it would make a cool and affordable holiday gift for relatives, or decoration for your own home. As for Hannah’s first project, we are going to make a little pillow for her room. She’s really excited about that part, too. I love watching her become enthusiastic over her projects.
Speaking of projects …
I am working hard on a quick (and completely non-authoritative, but totally fun) guide to Canadian maternity leave. It’s a PDF and it’s being professionally designed and everything. It will be available here on this site in 2 weeks’ time. Next week I will have all the details about how to get your own copy. If you are going on maternity leave soon, check it out. You may just learn something. And even if you don’t, you’ll make me happy by downloading it. Either way, I win. So check back next Monday September 14 for more info! 
Wonderful.Good for both of you. I can remember embroidering when I was little and my daughter loved /loves all things crafty and so does her girl.
one of my best memories is crocheting with my grandmother. take a bite, take two bites. when I went back to it as a college student, it all came back!
I’m pretty evenly divided between “you’re my hero” and “I kind of hate you” right now. If I manage to drag myself out of my first-week-of-school, husband-in-freaking-Asia-again, cooked-all-week-for-going-away-party, back-hurts, feet-hurt, house-looks-like-a-pinata-exploded apathy I’m sure I’ll be able to drag myself closer to the hero side.
.-= Allison´s last post ..**************Is Sarcasm a Heritable Trait? =-.
sigh, i just put up a whole comment and lost it.
the gist was – glad to see you embroidering too. i want to turn bean’s into a pillow also which reminds me i want a sewing machine.
i made a hat the other day.
we are turning into craft bloggers. is that better or worse or the same as a mommy blogger.
maybe i should go back on blog vacation
.-= robin hart´s last post ..on wearing my baby =-.
I love this idea. I can’t wait to try it with the girl. Maybe when she is a little older.
.-= Capital Mom´s last post ..Yoga class =-.
My kids and I have done this. It’s a great quiet time activity at my house.
I hope my daughter will enjoy embroidery. My boys never did (though they could not wait to put their hands on my sewing machine!). I’m glad you turned your extensive work on maternity leave into a downloadable guide.
.-= Francesca´s last post ..crochet inspiration =-.
She looks so into it. Good for you getting her into embroidery. What a great Mom! It’s cute that she wanted to get it perfect and asked you to help.
.-= Maria@Conversations with Moms´s last post ..Yipeeeeeeeee =-.
waht a super idea! do you want to do it with kate in a few years??? =) you are soo creative amber- you are starting to inspire me….
I should totally lend you the 'Creative Family' book. It's totally gotten my creative juices flowing.
Now I want to embroider something!
.-= *pol´s last post ..Only Three More Sleeps =-.
I did this project with my boys last summer and they loved it! We used burlap and those huge yarn needles. I love Hannah’s self portrait
.-= Michelle´s last post ..I’ve Been Tagged! =-.
Great project!
I know what you mean about craft stores. I can manage a trip with my four year old (especially if we’re getting supplies for his lightsaber projects), but I don’t know if I’d be brave enough to try with both kids.
.-= Lady M´s last post ..Fountains of Youth =-.
I need to get that book. I love SouleMama’s blog.
.-= kgirl´s last post ..Labour Day – Part II =-.
That’s very cute! I’m a huge crafter myself, and can’t wait to share it all with Ariana
I’ll remember the sling when I go into the craft store… heh… 
And about that Maternity Leave PDF – that sounds like a GREAT idea. I remember being totally lost about that! Good thing my husband is pretty informed when it comes to government services and such – helps that he’s a translator who happens to translate a lot for the government too
But I can see how that PDF would help LOADS of people, especially when you start having any kind of “special” situations…!
I’m inspired to try this with my five year old. I never would have considered this. Especially because I would love my daughters to learn to knit and woe is me I don’t know how! But embriodery I can do! Thank you for posting about this!
.-= Melodie´s last post ..Random Acts Of Kindness To Defeat The First Day of School Jitters =-.
I’ve been meaning to get that book and find projects appropriate for my little Hannah but I don’t know if there is anything for a 16 month old?
I love your Hannah’s self portrait.
The captions on your photos always make me laugh out loud.