I was a room mom for several years and I’m one of the least crafty people I know. Check out the evidence above.
This sad little turkey was created about a decade ago and it is pretty much my crowning achievement in holiday crafts. Putting it together almost made me cry. It looked so easy on the package. But have you ever tried gluing a googly eye to a really small pom-pom? It takes days of holding them together until the eye finally attaches. I used a yellow triangle as its nose that I think may have been intended for its back feathers. The instructions called for gluing each one of those bigger turkey feathers to the little wooden base. Sounded simple, but for me, it was simply impossible. After a dozen tries, I finally stapled them together and hot-glued them to the poor bird’s back end.
The moral of the story? I’m not good at this stuff. But I loved being a room mom, anyway, because being good at crafts is not what being a room mom is all about. So for all you non-crafty types out there who’d like to join the room mom ranks, consider these tips:
- Know what your strengths are and don’t be afraid to ask for help. I always had a room mom partner and focused on the stuff I did well—organizing and talking to the teacher—while the partner handled the crafts.
- If your partner isn’t crafty, seek out helpers who are. Chances are, there’s a mom in your class who is good at crafts and would be happy to come in for a holiday party to work with the kids.
- Keep crafts as simple as possible. In fact, it is often better to provide materials to kids (especially the young ones) and leave the project open-ended, allowing them to create whatever they’d like. This way, no one fails.
- Always do a test run with the craft at home. You want the kinks worked out of the process before you are doing the craft with the kids.
- Remember, no one is perfect and no one’s crafts should be perfect, either. That turkey caused me some embarrassment long ago, but, all these years later, I’ve grown very fond of him.
