Explore Creativity

Hand Embroidery for kids : Origin, History & Amazing Benefits for kids!

Hand embroidery for kids
Hand embroidery for kids

Hi everyone! 

Super excited to share this week’s post. the post is really special and close to my heart. after a gap of almost 1 year, my girls are back on blog and we three are excited to share this year’s summer special creative learning journey with you all.  

Though this year’s summer vacation was not much exciting due to pandemic stress but we had tried our best to learn something new and spend some quality time together as a family.  

Just like every year, when I had asked girls, “What they want to learn from me, during this summer vacation”? they had made me pleasantly surprised by their choice. they said, “They want to learn hand embroidery and crochet”.  

After knowing their choices, I felt a sense of happiness that they had chosen some amazing traditional art form activities to learn and explore.  

During this year’s summer vacation, Angel (my elder one) has learnt Crochet and Pranjal (little one) has learnt the hand embroidery. Pranjal is just 9 and she has completed her basic hand embroidery course (15 stitches) last week with help of me and YouTube tutorials.  

I am feeling so happy and satisfied with her learning and now I am excited to share this learning journey with you all.  

In this post, I am talking about what is hand embroidery and its history and origin? what are benefits of learning hand embroidery for kids? what basic supplies you need to get started? read the post to know more! 

What is Hand embroidery (Origin & brief history) 

As per Wikipedia. “Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins”.  

 The art of hand embroidery is practiced all across the world in ancient times. Archeological finds confirm the presence of fossilized remains of hand stitched and decorative clothing in around the time 30,000 BC.  

Here are some interesting points about history and origin of Hand embroidery: 

  • Embroidery work in China have been dated to the Warring States period (in between 5th-3rd century). 
  • Sweden is another country where earliest finds of embroidery have been found dated to a period called “Viking Age” (around the 9th and 10th centuries)  
  • Ancient Greek mythology has credited the Goddess Athena with passing down the art of embroidery along with art of weaving.  
  • Embroidery was also an important part of Medieval Islamic world and was considered as a sign of high social status in Muslim societies.  

Benefits of learning Embroidery for kids 

Here are some amazing benefits of learning hand embroidery for kids.  

Creative engagement for kids (helps in reducing screen time) 

I will start with the most important and beneficial aspect of learning embroidery. I am sure you all would be agree that during this stressful time of pandemic, “Increased (and sometime) unlimited screen time is one of the major parenting stress for most of the parents. Kids are bound to use gadgets for longer hours due to various outdoor activity restrictions. 

As a caring parent, we are also exhausted with this restricted lifestyle routine but unfortunately, we did not have much option to change the whole scenario. In this stressful situation, “Exploring and learning traditional art form activities” can be a best option to keep the kids away from various gadgets (phones, iPad) and reduce their screen time.  

It helps in developing fine motor skills and improve eye-hand coordination 

Developing proper fine motor skills are one of the important part of childhood and many young kids struggles with that. Practicing Embroidery helps a lot in improving fine motor skills in kids. It requires a gentle and precise hand-eye movement and with regular practice, kids improve their fine motor skills and develop a proper eye-hand coordination movement.  

Kids develop a sense of patience while learning embroidery 

Usually, Kids have a shorter attention span and lack of patience . they did not want to wait for things that they want. Learning embroidery help them to develop a sense of patience and they realize the importance of following a proper process patiently to accomplish a creative project.  

It builds self-confidence and enhances creativity 

Definitely when kids create something beautiful on their own, it builds a sense of confidence in them. This creative process also helps in enhancing creativity and imagination power in kids. 

Fun way to reduce stress and practice mindfulness 

Scientific research has confirmed that embroidery offers therapeutic benefits too. In this stress full time, when young kids are also facing various kind of mental health issues, embroidery can help a lot in reducing stress level and can be used as an easy way to practice mindfulness.  

Basic supplies for embroidery 

Basic supplies for hand embroidery
Basic supplies for hand embroidery

Embroidery is an eco-friendly and in-expensive hobby. It needs few basic things to get started.  

For getting started, you will need: 

  • Fabric: For beginners, cotton is the best choice of fabric. It is easy to handle and needle can puncture easily through the cotton fabric thread.  
  • Embroidery hoop: Using embroidery hoop helps a lot in keeping your fabric on place and help in maintain an even pressure while you stitch. Hoops are available in various sizes. You can choose any size as per your project requirement but for beginners 6 inch is best size to get started.  
  • Threads (also called embroidery floss)– Though there are varieties of embroidery floss are available in market (like silk, rayon), but for beginners, 6 strand cotton floss (DMC is most famous brand) is best to get started.  
  • Needles: There is no rigid rule regarding selection of needles for embroidery. For beginners, it is best to used medium sized eye needles, it helps in easy stitching and reducing eye tension. Additionally, you can buy a package of embroidery needles and can try different needles to get an idea what will work best for you? 
  • Scissors: Any scissors can be used to cut the thread end and trim the fabric around your hoop. Try to use scissors with small blades and wide comfortable handles for easy handling.  
  • Fabric marking pens or pencils: They are used for making patterns or tracing the design for embroidery purpose.  

Additional supplies 

Thread storage box
Thread storage box

Here is list of some additional supplies that can be used to make your learning process more organized.  

  • Floss organizer (floss organizer case or floss bobbins) 
  • Needle storage box 
  • Needle minder or needle book 
  • Tracing and carbon paper for printing design 
  • Smart storage box to keep all the supplies handy and organized 

So, this is all for now.  

In next post, I will share 5 basic embroidery stiches with easy video tutorials. Stay tuned! 

Have you tried embroidery before? What was your experience? Please share with me. 

if you like my content, then please follow me on   

Facebook   

Instagram    

And subscribe to   

Blog   

Do not forget to check out previous popular kids’ activities series:   

Cooking with kids    

 Science for kids   

Creative kids   

25 Comments

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Welcome to Surbhi's Crazy Creative World

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading