Sewing the thread back into the community

Educators at Lochwinnoch Early Learning and Childcare, a Renfrewshire council nursery, used a Froebel Trust grant to provide the young children at their setting with the opportunity to gain "lifelong sewing skills".

Froebel wrote about Gifts and Occupations - educational activities which enable children to be creative, to communicate, develop physical and problem-solving skills and develop an understanding of the natural world. Sewing is one of these Froebelian creative Occupations which encourages young children to develop independence.

The nursery provided sewing workshops for families to attend - with the aim of enhancing the children's social skills and relationships.

The project team wrote, "Having these links with families and community provides children with the opportunity to see the connectedness which... is vital in forming the neural pathways of the brain. The growing brain seeks out experience, meaning and patterns in the world around and builds connections with existing understandings. This will help our children to become independent and autonomous learners."

Download the team's final project report (May 2023) which tells the story of the project and shows the project in action.