How to teach a child to crochet in 7 steps

So many many people have asked “how do I teach my son or daughter to crochet????” It’s very understandable that people don’t know where to start.  I didn’t know either at first.  But then my daughter wanted to learn to crochet at just 10 years old and so I made up a plan.  Just 7 simple steps.  Baby steps really.  And much to my surprise, the girl could crochet within days.  Literally DAYS! 

You’re probably wondering “how on earth did you do that???”.  Here’s how:

Step 1: Have a good look at how you hold the hook and yarn.  I mean EVERY point where the hook and needle touch your skin.  Then you show the child and point out all those skin touching points.  Have him/her try it too.  Over and over for a few minutes.

If you’re child can’t focus on things for very long, now is when you give it a break.  I know you probably think he/she hasn’t done anything yet, why stop now.  Well, the child has done something.  He/she has learned one of the most important steps= how to hold the hook and yarn. 

That itself is already a big step because if one doesn’t know how to hold them= crocheting won’t go very well.  Giving up comes after that and we don’t want that do we?

Step 2: Now it’s time to learn how to make a chain.  I taught my daughter this with a rather large hook and thick yarn because that’s easier to hold.  When the child can make chains, you have him/her do it again but this time with a smaller hook and thinner yarn.  No need to go down to a 0.5mm hook though.  That’s very thin and way too thin for a child. 

After that it’s time for a break again.

Step 3: the next step is teaching the single crochet.  I wouldn’t start with teaching how to make a single crochet in a chain though.  The child isn’t really used to holding small items to crochet yet.  So it’s best that you make a few rows yourself first and then have the child learn to make the single crochet in the stitches you just made, NOT in a starting chain. 

When he/she can do this and it looks acceptable for a beginner, then you can have the child try to make single crochet in the starting chain.  No need to have him/her do this all afternoon.  Just half an hour is enough.

Step 4: time to learn how to make a half double crochet and a double crochet. Since these 2 stitches are pretty much the same, it can be done on the same day.  But only after he/she has mastered the single crochet. 

Step 5: If the child wants to learn to make blankets or a very simple purse for example, you can teach that now.  But if the child wants to learn to make amigurumi dolls,…you’ll need to teach him/her to make the magic ring first. 

Also how one makes the usual 6 single crochet in that magic ring. This magic ring is used really a lot for dolls so it’s best to teach this first.  If however you yourself can’t figure out how to make a magic ring, you can use my video (see the one below) to teach this step.  Then when the magic ring actually looks like a magic ring it’s time for step 6. 

Step 6: You can now teach how to work in continuous rows + the increase and decrease.  Use a simple pattern for this.  You could make a ball, but we all know children would find that boring.  Go for something very simple like my Louise Share A Little Love Bear. 

My daughter learned to make her very first amigurumi teddy with this pattern.  She spent only a couple of days on it (with my guidance of course).  She managed to make a teddy that looks very very good for that of a beginner.  I must add though that if your child’s teddy looks less than perfect, do smile and say it looks stunning. 

Step 7: Once the child has mastered something like a simple teddy, you can have him/her make a couple more.  Different ones or the same one doesn’t matter.  It’s just to practice. 

The really brave ones will demand a much more complicated pattern and that’s ok.  We want the child to be brave enough to try something more challenging.  Never say “oh, that is way too difficult for you”.  Allow the child to try.  If he/she fails, that’s ok.  The important thing is that the attempt was made. 

When we encourage/allow the child to try, the child learns that we should never say a pattern is too difficult.  He/she will learn to attempt first before judging it to too difficult.  People miss out on wonderful patterns when they are scared to try more challenging looking patterns.

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These 7 steps are how I taught my daughter to crochet in just a couple of days.  Each time no more than half an hour.  My daughter would then take an hour break and ask to repeat the last step or want to learn the next step. 

Breaks are important because most children can’t focus on something complicated for very long.  It’s definitely time for a break when the child starts to look upset or tired. 

With lots of patience and breaks, he/she will be able to do it. 

Of course no shaming the child if it takes much longer than merely days to learn to crochet.  Each person is different.  Some will need only days while some will need months/years and that’s ok.  The important thing is the will to try. 

It doesn’t have to look perfect immediately.  It’s ok if it looks a little “funny”.  We were all beginners at some point and we all had beginner projects that looked a little “funny”. 

I myself sucked bigtime in the beginning.  My first amigurumi project (a little dog) was UGLY.   Not at all cute.  Not even close to what my daughter managed to make so beautifully on her first try.  My little amigurumi dog was so ugly, it even scared the hell out of my real dog.  Hahahaha.

Now if you find that you still have more questions about teaching children to crochet, feel free to ask me in the comments section below.  

Have lots of fun teaching!!!