FAMILY TIME
HANDCRAFTING WITH KIDS
It had all started out as a good idea: although we live in the city, we wanted
our son to develop a healthy relationship to nature. We also wanted him to develop
the patience to sit down and make something with his own hands. So we decided
that a good place to start was to feed the birds in the winter on our balcony
so our son – I think he was three at the time – would be able to
watch the birds. A bag of wild-bird seed later, we were ready to go: seed neatly
arranged on a platter outside, the bag neatly sealed beside it and then we waited.
And waited. And waited. Our son was disappointed that the birds didn't descend
in flocks from the trees to storm our balcony, Hitchcock-style. Eventually we
gave up. At dinner, our son suddenly pointed to the balcony and said “Look – Birds!” I
turned around and saw a huge muscular crow peer at our platter and then sneer
at us through the window. He didn't even bother to take any seed from the platter.
He just spat out of the corner of his beak, hopped over to the rest of the bag
of bird seed, grabbed the whole darned thing and flapped off into the distance
with it. I guess that was educational, but not exactly in the way we had had
in mind. More like “watch out for feathered muggers and bandits with beaks”.
Our son soon started building things on his own. Interestingly, he often sketched
what he wanted to build beforehand, like a blueprint. There was an entire series
of laptops made from cardboard boxes, and then an airplane which he could sit
in again made from cardboard boxes. And then he drifted into the phase of being
interested in toy weapons (swords to poke evil dragons with and laser guns to
shoot nasty aliens with). We were both very strict that weapons are not to play
with and we didn't like this. Eventually, we came to a compromise: I built him
two “magic” swords out of wood, complete with “golden” (painted)
blunt wooden blades and “magic” jewel-encrusted hilts. I hoped that
this would stop him from asking for every vicious-looking plastic sword in the
toy-shops. I had little hope that it really would, though. But it did. I was
very surprised. He is proud of the swords and happily plays chasing monsters
out of his room with them. The thing with the toy firearms was a bit more difficult.
We didn't want him to have a toy gun. A water pistol, okay. But nothing realistic-looking.
And then, when he was five, he came up with a detailed blueprint for something
that looked like a bazooka or a rocket-launcher. I was not impressed, until he
told me that it was a special gun which vets use to shoot sleeping darts at animals
they need to treat. When I asked why it was the size of a Patriot anti-aircraft
missile launcher he looked at me and said smugly: “How else am I going
to put an elephant to sleep when I grow up and become a vet, eh? I have to practise.” So
he got his tranquilizing-dart rocket-launcher, which he designed and built entirely
himself. I just helped glue the pieces together. It looks deeply worrying but
it's designed – ultimately – to heal rather than hurt, so I guess
its okay. The thing is, he is so proud of it that he hasn't seriously asked for
any of the toy-shop pistols again.
The interesting thing here is that it made a huge difference to actually
sit
down with our son and build a project like that. Even if it takes ages and the
result doesn't look anything like the shiny toys from the shop, it's a toy that
he made with me or with Mum and that makes it special to him. Even if you have
two left hands, it's worth doing. Very rewarding.
Our dolls' house is another thing. I actually made a three-storey dolls' house
for our son when he was two and a bit. I built it all from scratch and my wife
and I painted it. Then we went out and bought wooden furniture (making the furniture
was beyond my limited carpentry skills) and put it all together. It was a Christmas
present. Except for the fact that some of the furniture only fits onto one of
the storeys because they're not all the same height, he played with the house
for a long time. I expected it to fall apart quite quickly (again partly due
to my limited carpentry skills), but it's still there, and it's a one of a kind,
believe you me. Other dolls' houses may look snazzier, but this one is our son's,
and no-one else has one like it. Okay, it took me weeks to get all the glue off
my fingers and I went to work with blue and green elbows for almost a month (maybe
I shouldn't have used indelible enamel paints), but it was worth it.
There's something special about something made by Mum and / or Dad especially
for a child. And even if our handicraft skills are severely limited, building
something from a kit is more fun and more special than buying a finished toy.
Also, it helps the kids learn something about the value of a toy like that. I
mean, they were there, helping build it and they know that it took a long time
until it was finished. Watch how carefully they play with those precious toys.
It's a huge difference.
| DANIEL SCHWARZ
CARIGIET Born: 1966 in Lugano, Switzerland - Mother American, father German Family: married to Astrid, father of Oliver |
 |
| Occupation: Freelance photographer / commmunications consultant |
|
the working male moms archive:
“Vater
werden ist nicht schwer – Vater sein hingegen sehr”
Corporate
Dadness or “What's wrong with your wife,
then?”
Cooking
with kids
foodtime: fire it up!
Staying at home with my children I
was quickly labeled as “Hausfrau”,
and no matter how I try I still cannot seem to get used to this title.
I don’t mind at all being at home with my kids, but with this unasked
for title I get the feeling that someone is constantly looking over my
shoulder to see if I am
doing Hausfrau chores.
READ
MORE
Hausfrauen der Schweiz – vereinigt
euch!
Das Ansehen der Hausfrauen verbessern ist das
erklärte Ziel der Hausfrauen-
und Hausmännergewerkschaft.
READ
MORE (this text is in German)