Long-distance Craft Projects with Grandkids

“Grandma?” Miss T’s voice, followed by her little face, popped up on my iPad, as she FaceTimed me one Sunday afternoon. “What can I make with this?” she asked plaintively.

She angled her phone so I could see a pre-packed craft box filled with supplies. There were wooden disks, wooden spools, pipe cleaners, felt squares, pom poms, beads, googly eyes, a sewing needle, embroidery thread….

Not wanting to disappoint her, I had to do some fast thinking. Felt…could she hand-sew a stuffed toy? No, she said, she had nothing to use for stuffing. Not a toy, then.

Dried beans? Unless she had dried beans to fill with, no bean bags either. Rice would leak through her inexpert stitches.

Searching for a Solution…

How about pipe cleaner people? I suggested after some thought.

For me to help her, I would need the same materials she had. I have a box of supplies in my craft room set aside for working on projects with Miss T. Hurriedly, I rummaged through it, until I could mirror her supplies with my own.

Thinking on the fly, and not quite sure how I would make these people, I began by folding a pipe cleaner in half. Miss T followed suit. This would be the body, I said.

Then I took a second pipe cleaner and wrapped it around the body, leaving a few inches at the start for one arm, then wrapping the rest around the body, leaving enough enough left over at the other end to form the second arm.

Now we needed a head. Think…think…. Neither Miss T nor I had wooden balls. But we each had pom poms. Mine were left over from the pom pom cannons we had made for Miss T’s birthday party.

To secure the pom pom head to the body, Miss T and I came up with the same solution at the same time. We pushed the pom pom into the loop created when we folded the first pipe cleaner in half. Because the pom pom is soft and fluffy, it stayed in place without glue.

Create a felt book for your toddler with Velcro-backed images that stick to the felt pages. Make your own stories.

Adding the Finishing Touches

Using white school glue, we affixed googly eyes, a felt mouth, and hair to the pom pom head. Miss T used embroidery thread for hair and I used a fluff of polyester batting.

To make a dress, I showed Miss T how to cut a rectangle from felt. Then we folded it in half, cut a hole in the center for the head, and slit the front for a wraparound style. We secured the dress with another pipe cleaner cinched around the waist.

We stood our dolls on the spools. Luckily, I happened to have an empty one that I hadn’t yet tossed.

I told Miss T I was calling my doll Eva. Miss T, who had made two dolls, chose Dallas and Carla for hers.

Miss T. said wistfully that she wished we could craft together in person in my craft room, and I wished it, too. But in the end, by long-distance crafting, we were able to spend part of a Sunday together, chatting as we worked, and having fun!

How to Plan a Long-Distance Craft Project

While this project was begun because we are social distancing, it’s also a good way for grandparents who are geographically distant to make a connection with the grandkids by working on a craft project together.

• Find a project that isn’t complicated and doesn’t take too long to make, based on the child’s capabilities and attention span.
• Look for a project that doesn’t require adult supervision so parents can take a break while you work with the child. For example, Miss T, who just turned seven, was able to make the pipe cleaner dolls unaided, simply by following my instructions.
• Make a list of the materials and tools needed and email the list to the parents ahead of time. Or, if you live in the same town, you could pack up your own materials and have the parents pick them up.
• Use FaceTime (for iPhone, iPad users), Zoom, Google Hangouts, or any other video conferencing platform that the two of you can access.

Being separated from the grandchildren for months at a time, is the hardest part of a lockdown. But thanks to technology, we can still keep connected and we can still share our love.