Your Child is Learning to Crochet. Here’s How to Support Them

Your child just told you they want to learn to crochet. Yeah!

After celebrating this decision with your child, a new thought pops into your mind. “I don’t know how to crochet. How am I supposed to support my child with this hobby if I can’t crochet?”

Have no fear! There are lots of ways you can support your child’s hobby without having to actively participate. I have narrowed down my top 6 tips to help you. Let’s get into it!

For my complete list of 10 ways to support your child, get you copy of my FREE Crochet Starter Guide. It will help you be a great supporter of your beginner crocheter. Click here to get your copy!

1. Provide the materials they will need.

This might sound obvious, but your child will need a few materials and supplies as a crocheter. This includes things like yarn, crochet hooks, scissors, sewing needles, and a few other tools that aren’t necessities but they are helpful. I wrote a whole article on that topic that outlines crochet supplies more in depth. You can find that article here.

One of the best things you can do to show your child you support their learning to crochet is to take them with you to the craft store or local yarn shop. Have them select the supplies they want to work with. Keep in mind, don’t let them choose the super fluffy yarn (even though I know they will want it). Stick with light-coloured #4 weight yarn, and you’ll be good to go if your child is just getting started. The fancy yarn will come once they have some skills and stitches in their repertoire.

2. Let your child choose the crochet projects they want to make.

Let’s be honest for a second. The crochet projects that kids want do make and what adults want to make are often very different. For example, 90% of my students want to make stuffed animals that can be made in a few hours. I, on the other hand, love making blankets that take me weeks or even months to complete.

If your child is anything like my students, they will most likely have a clear idea in mind for what they want to make. Let them make whatever they want. If they are struggling to decide what to make, give them some suggestions. But the final decision should be theirs. Why? Because it will give your child a sense of agency, motivation, and pride in their work when they finish a crochet project they chose and made themselves.

3. Encourage your child to meet other crocheters.

Many people don’t think about how crochet builds social skills, but it is one of my favourite things about crochet. In general, crocheters love to meet and chat with other crocheters. We talk about yarn, our current and past crochet projects, the project we want to make next, and so much more. It is one of the reasons I love being an online crochet teacher for kids. I get to meet crocheters in my classes and courses. We nerd out on crochet, and it always brings me a lot of joy.

Late last year I joined a crochet club in my local community. We meet twice a month for 2 hours. We chat while crocheting. The thing I like best about it is that I’m in community with people who share the same interest as me, and we understand the excitement we have for this craft.

Ask if your child’s school has a crochet club. I’ve seen them also run at local libraries, community centres, and even local yarn shops. You can also find lots of them online. I include a version of one in my online crochet course, where we meet weekly to chat about crochet and your child can get their crochet questions answered. Click the button at the end of the article to learn more about Crochet Made Easy!

4. Teach your child about failure and problem-solving.

Mistakes are an inevitable part of being a crocheter. I make small mistakes in my crochet projects on an almost daily basis, and I’ve been crocheting for over 30 years. It might be that stitches look a bit wonky (especially common in the beginning), or an entire crochet project doesn’t turn out the way your child is going for.

Both of those are totally okay, and actually a good thing. Here’s a little mindset shift for you as you’re helping your child. Don’t see those wonky stitches or projects as failures. Instead, see them as learning opportunities. It is a chance to examine what went wrong, come up with a new idea, and try again. Once your child has frogged (ripped out) lots of crochet projects, starting over gets so much easier.

5. Remind your child of their progress.

Once your child has been crocheting for a while, it can hard for them to realize how far they’ve come. As skills are learned gradually and build slowly over time, the time frame can make things a bit blurry. For example, now that I’ve been crocheting for so long, it is very hard for me to remember exactly what the start of my journey was like. Thankfully, my mom has told me, as I was only 10 years old when I started. I made long chains, long rows of stitches that I would rip out and try again because they weren’t perfect. No one told me they weren’t supposed to be perfect because I was just starting off.

Remind your child of where they started, and tell them about how far they have progressed. I might be they started off learning how to hold a crochet hook and now they can make a granny square. Or maybe they already knew the single crochet and can now make stuffed animals with ease. Every child has their own starting place and their own unique path with crochet.

6. Have your child teach you what they’re learning and working on.

It is commonly said that when you teach someone something you learn it twice, and even better. So, if you’d like to get involved in your child’s hobby, it’s time for you to learn to crochet! Have your child teach you what they’re learning. This can be done in a few different ways. If your child is practicing a new stitch they recently learned, have them show you and walk you through how they did it. Or, if they’re making a larger crochet project like a scarf or stuffed animal, ask to see their progress and have them explain how they got to that point in the project. It will help them cement their knowledge in the brain and muscle memory, and really boost their confidence and motivation to continue.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the materials I covered in this post in the comments down below. If your child would like to learn to crochet with me, check out the link to my course Crochet Made Easy! below.