Buttons and Stiches: you can do hard things

"Peekaboo, pull it through!"
Fastening buttons and sewing have a lot in common. They're both tasks that require significant coordination and dexterity for little learning fingers. 
Let's practice persistence together today.

Buttoning
"Peekaboo, pull it through," is a phrase we picked up from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. It's something the animals say as they learn how to button their coats. Here is a screenshot from this episode, showing Daniel happy because he buttoned his coat all by himself.
This is from a special episode about persistence. They even sing a song, more on that in a bit.

This morning our 3 year old said "Peekaboo, pull it through!" as she buttoned her own button, all by herself. Do you know this technique for buttons? Let's look at the process carefully together.

Here is an image of a "peekaboo" button. It has been pushed halfway through the hole, from the inside to the outside.
Once the button has been pushed halfway through from the back, you can pull it through the rest of the way from the front. The pinch and grip motion can be tricky for young fingers. It's great to start on big buttons and move on to smaller and smaller buttons. Here is a picture of a button that is finished being pulled through its hole.
Here is what our conversation looked like as we worked on our button today.
"This is hard, Mama," she said.
"Yes. It is hard. But you do hard things all the time," I replied, encouragingly.
"Yes, I do. But..." Her voice was hesitant as she worked. She didn't even notice when her task was complete.
"Look! You finished!" I pointed out happily. 
She beamed, "I can do hard things." Satisfied with her work, she went off to play.

Sewing
Want to teach a toddler how to sew? Here's a skill that builds off buttoning.

You can make it easier for them by giving them stiff materials to work with like wood and wire.  String and yarn are challenging for young hands to manipulate. We find it easiest to thread fluffy pipe cleaners through pre-made holes in firm materials like craft foam or wood. The wire keeps shape and doesn't flop around while they work.

Here is a picture of toddler hands manipulating a pipe cleaner through holes.
She chanted "Peekaboo, pull it through!" over and over as she worked, taking delight in each step. As she worked, she saw how it became easier and easier.

She saw the similarities between the process of pulling a button through a hole and sewing a pipe cleaner through the holes on her foam board. the skills built on each other in ways I never anticipated. 

Stitching as Art
Quilting is an art form where you stitch lots of little pieces of fabric together to make something bigger. We love quilting. We've been quilting for generations.
Our 9 year old made a quilted pillow at sewing camp. It has many colorful pieces stitched together in a fun way. Here's a picture of the pillow she stitched. (Thanks for teaching her, Mrs. Cavey!)
We love quilting so much, we decided to look into what quilting might be like in space.

Astronaut Stitches 
Did you know that Artist Astronaut Karen Nyberg spent time stitching in space?

Here is a picture of Artist Astronaut Karen with a dinosaur that she stitched in space. 

And another with her holding a quilt square that she made in space!

Here's a video NASA put together talking about Karen's quilting project.

Want to learn more about this artist? Here is the Artist Astronaut Karen Nyberg's website!

Keep Trying
"Keep trying, you'll get better. Try, try, try."
As we do difficult things like buttoning and stitching, it can be helpful to cheer ourselves on with a little song. That's where this song from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood comes in handy.

We even have hand movements in American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate the concepts more clearly.

In this brief video I guide you through each movement, then sing the song with you.

Here's a picture of me saying "try" in ASL.

Why ASL?
Once they know these movements, you can silently cheer them on from across the room anytime you want. Isn't that fun?
Here's a blog post where I explain other reasons to communicate in ASL with young children. 
What will you try today?

#WeAreProblemSolvers 

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