My daughter Ramona is 3 ½, and is starting to take an interest in crafting. She recently asked me if we could make a monster-one of her current favorite things. Yes please!

Monsters are an easy project, because there is really no wrong way to make it. Want it to have 3 legs? Sure? Only 1 eye? Sounds fine to me!

First I asked her what size she wanted the monster to be, she said she wanted him big as a rectangle, which made me think of a pillow, so I chose some softer fabrics and let her pick which one she wanted. She made all the decisions, how many eyes, their shape, fabric used, the mouth, legs, the whole thing. I eyeballed everything when I cut it out, no need for a pattern. Then I let her place where she wanted everything to go, and pinned it into place.

Ramona can’t use the sewing machine yet, so I just got her a chair so she could watch me sew. 3-year-olds ask a lot of questions, and it was so fun to talk shop with her.

In all we did this project in about an hour, which was about as long as she had patience for. Next up is a monster for her little brother …