Sewing with kids

I feel a little presumptuous trying to teach anyone how to sew, really.  I can do the basics, but I, by no means, am an expert.  For small children, however, who have never before done any sewing, I felt comfortable being the one "in the know."

We've been studying ancient civilizations for history, and we recently learned that hunters would sometimes have little bags made out of animal skins that held rocks, twigs, etc. for playing games on their hunting expeditions.  So, of course, we made hunting game bags.  I was not about to sew a bag out of leather, so we did the next best thing, we used animal print fabric.

The kids helped measure, cut, and pin the bags.  I sewed them and they played with them non-stop for days.  They went on countless hunting expeditions.  They slew horses (using Erilyn's giant stuffed horse as the target), imaginary bison, wooly mammoths, and stuffed cats who were stand-ins for saber-toothed cats, or smyladons.  They crafted themselves some bows and arrows with sticks and elastics for their hunting trips.  The funniest thing of all, though, was when I heard Anthon choking a mouse (his stuffed mouse) to death, making choking noises to make it more real.  When I laughed out loud, Anthon looked up at  me with genuine interest and said, "what are you laughing at Mom?" Since it was inconceivable that his hunting antics could be construed as amusing.  It's a serious business to provide for your family, after all.

Fun times.

Here they are on their latest hunting expedition (notice the slain horse in the background of Erilyn's picture.)