How to Do Charlotte Mason Handicraft

Do you know that a Charlotte Mason education is not all about books? Of course, we love living books! But because CM emphasizes the importance of a wide curriculum, we also make sure to include things like music, art, and teaching our children to work with their hands. 

Handicrafts are a necessary component in a Charlotte Mason homeschool. With Miss Mason’s emphasis on education being the science of relations, we endeavor to introduce our children and make them familiar with different materials and tools. Here’s what Miss Mason herself says:

The children I am speaking of are much occupied with things as well as with books, because ‘Education is the Science of Relations,’ is the principle which regulates their curriculum; that is, a child goes to school with many aptitudes which he should put into effect. So, he learns a good deal of science, because children have no difficulty in understanding principles, though technical details baffle them. He practises various handicrafts that he may know the feel of wood, clay, leather, and the joy of handling tools, that is, that he may establish a due relation with materials. (Vol 6 Page 31)

The Power of Handicraft 

Do you know that handicraft contributes to a child’s imagination? Take a look at this excerpt from a Parents’ Review article: 

The child who knows how to make a basket, a clay model, a cardboard coalscuttle, an apron, a pudding, and who, later on, can design and work in leather or copper and ultimately bind a book, such a child has visions of a house beautiful and knows that it takes but a turn of the hand here and there to turn the barrack into the home. “Loving eye and patient hand, shall work with joy and bless the land.” 

(From Imagination as a Powerful Factor in a Well-balanced Mind, by E.A. Parish, The Parents’ Review Volume 25, no. 5, 1914, pgs. 379-390)

Important Principles for Charlotte Mason Handicrafts 

Here are the points that Miss Mason emphasizes when we think about how to do handicrafts in a CM homeschool, in my own words (taken from Volume 1 page 315-316): 

1. That they should not be made to work on create-and-toss projects 

Miss Mason calls these types of arts and crafts “making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like.” Now, from the very start, she calls us to differentiate handicrafts from the typical picture of school arts and crafts. For most of us, the word “handicraft” conjures up endless mountains of papers with cut and glue projects that we struggle to toss in the trash for sentimental reasons—but which we know serve no other purpose! 

Instead, handicraft in a Charlotte Mason homeschool refers to working on items that are useful or beautiful. Think of it in terms of the word “craftsman” and you will get a more accurate picture of what kind of activities are involved!

2. That we should teach the children “slowly and carefully what they are to do”

Here we are encouraged to take time to teach our children “slowly and carefully” what to do. This implies that learning a handicraft takes time. In fact, take a look at what Miss Mason says in Volume 6, Towards a Philosophy of Education: 

Probably some educational authorities may decide to give one hour or two weekly to physical training and handicrafts, in which case the time-table must allow for so much the less reading. 

(Vol 6 pg 126-127)

Here we can see the importance she places on including one to two hours a week to “physical training and handicrafts,” by saying that we need to adjust the reading schedule to make room for it! I admit, sometimes it’s tempting to over-emphasize the value of reading the best living books that we forget to spend time on teaching our children handicrafts!

Of course, if you do not know how to do the handicraft yourself, the good news is that these days, we have lots of videos that can teach us! For example, you can search for YouTube videos, or if you prefer more structured lessons, CreativeLive has a few handicraft courses you can choose from!

3. That we do not allow haphazard work 

The CM method places a high value on excellent work, and handicraft is just one way we practice that. We teach our children the process, and then we expect them to work at it wholeheartedly. Do you know that children already have a natural affinity towards beauty and perfection? All we have to do is call out that desire by not accepting “slipshod” work and encouraging them to give their best in all that they do. 

4. That we should be mindful of what kind of work the child is able to do excellently. 

Because we aim for excellent execution, we also need to be aware of our children’s fine motor skills so that we can choose a handicraft that he can do well in. For example, it will not be fair to expect excellent work in crochet from a child who is not even able yet to hold the necessary finger position for the yarn!

How to Do Handicraft Lessons 

Because we are encouraged to teach our child slowly and carefully, let’s take a look at how we can teach handicraft to our children: 

1. Pick a handicraft that’s a good fit for your child’s skills. 

Remember, our goal for handicraft is excellent execution, and your child will only be able to do that if his work is something within his power to do! It will not be fair to expect a child who still struggles with fine motor skills to create intricate details on a clay sculpture, but he may likely be able to create the larger forms. 

Feel free to browse through our Handicrafts By Age for a CM Homeschool post for ideas!)

2. Remember that handicraft will involve movement. 

I love this description of handicraft classes, making it a great bonding time with our kids: 

Handicraft classes with us are not stiff and formal proceedings; children may move to fetch their materials or to get a better light on their models, they may talk. One sees the proof of the interest they are taking in the fact that at these times, they only want to talk about their work.

(From Imagination as a Powerful Factor in a Well-balanced Mind, by E.A. Parish, The Parents’ Review Volume 25, no. 5, 1914, pgs. 379-390)

3. Start with the basic actions required. 

For example, if your chosen handicraft is embroidery, you don’t give your child a full-sized project right away. Instead, you start with teaching him or her how to do a basic stitch. Then you get him or her to practice this over and over until it becomes almost second nature, and then you introduce another stitch, or perhaps apply that stitch to a pattern. 

If your chosen handicraft is wood carving, you may want to start with a softer material, such as soap, and then work your way up to carving candles, and then wood. You might also teach basic strokes first. 

4. Remember to teach safety precautions. 

Handicraft can involve tools that some parents might cringe to let their child use. To be honest, before I learned CM’s philosophy, I probably wouldn’t have imagined letting a 7-year-old handle a knife for carving soap! But because I understood the importance, I had to teach my oldest son the safe way to handle the knife (for example, whittling in a direction away from his face!)! 

Of course, that may also include your being present when younger children handle tools that need to be used safely. 

5. Encourage observation. 

Most handicrafts will require your child to make careful observation. For example, Miss Mason encourages teaching young children to sculpt with clay based on a three-dimensional model instead of a flat 2D drawing. Encourage them to observe. 

Take a look at this excerpt from The Parents’ Review: 

Those of you who teach will know the expectant and pleased air of the child who comes to fetch a lump of clay. He knows that he is going to model an apple and he already sees in the clay the wonder of beauty which will be the result of his work. He is, at first, surprised that his efforts at modelling produce so strange a result, that when he would press he squeezes, that when he would make a dimple, he makes a hole. Gradually he comes to know that, first of all, he must think what he is going to do, and that after long thinking only may he venture to act. By imagination, he must see the goal towards which he is working, with his brain he must so control his hands and arms, and that they will fashion for him the thing he has in mind. When he experiences this sense of mastery over material, he has taken the first great step towards independence, and he has the comforting sense that what he does will not be touched, that bad or good, it will stand as his work. 

(From Imagination as a Powerful Factor in a Well-balanced Mind, by E.A. Parish, The Parents’ Review Volume 25, no. 5, 1914, pgs. 379-390)

6. Schedule at least one to two hours of handicraft time per week.

One important thing to remember with handicraft is that practice makes perfect! CM school schedules usually left the afternoons free for things like nature study, handicraft, and other interests. If that’s not wholly possible for you, at least make sure that you plot in a time slot for handicraft at least once a week. (Check out our post on creating a Charlotte Mason schedule.)

Adding Handicraft to your Charlotte Mason Homeschool Schedule 

We hope this has helped you see handicrafts as the important component they are in your child’s education! Check out our post on Handicraft Ideas by Age, or consider checking out our very own e-book, create CM Handicraft Guide, with complete recommendations and beginner’s instructions for all the different age groups in your family!