knitting for 3yo

[strawberrybubblegum]

My almost-3-yo DD is obsessed with knitting which is nothing at all to do with watching too much Sarah & Duck. She keeps asking me to teach her, although her fine-motor skills obviously aren't good enough to do much when I do get knitting needles out.

She's seen Cra-Z-Art in a shop. I said we'd think about putting it on her Christmas list, and hoped she'd forget about it, but she made a bee-line for it when we were in the same shop a week later. Obviously, that's way too old for her - right?

Does anyone have any suggestions for something close enough to knitting to convince her, but a bit easier to manage? The Galt first knitting is the youngest knitting set I can find, but still looks a bit tricky.

Or am I just deluded and should just bribe her with lots of chocolate santas instead?

Bribe

Whilst I think it's absolutely lovely that she wants to learn and that you want to teach her, her 3 year old dexterity will end up frustrating her immensely and it would be a shame if she then went off the idea later on.

My DD (7.5) just got her first Galt sewing kit and is loving it, but even so she finds some bits tricky to do.

Her school (year 3) took her class to a workshop for the day, where they all learnt to hand sew and machine sew, then made a project each. They also offer knitting at this textiles studio.

I've no idea where you are based in the country, but have a look at this place for when she is older - they stipulate age 6 as the minimum and I suppose they are the experts and so will know when it is most appropriate for a child to start.

My gran used to teach me to knit, with massive needles and very thick wool. I was about 4 or 5. I couldn't really make much than a small piece of scarf, and she would hold my hands and do the action for me, but I remember it being great fun, though I had more dropped stitches than scarf by the end

Link I forgot to post...

www.littlehandsdesign.com

What about the sort of knitting where you have a wooden cotton reel with four pins in it. There are up to date sets for this.

www.johnlewis.com/rico-knitting-wooden-doll/p2063248?colour=Carl Red

You could get her a Lucet or a French Knitting doll so that she can make cord - though to be honest, French Knitting is probably harder than actual knitting on large needles once she is started off... Crochet is also fairly straightforward if she isn't picky about which side of the stitch she is going into, you just stick the hook through the existing fabric somewhere, wind the yarn round it, then pull it out, x 400.