Disclaimer: I was compensated for my time in exchange for my honest review.
My kid always wants to make something. “Mama, where is the paint?”, “Can I have some paper”, “Do we have any tape?” The requests are endless. Mama is an artsy kind of person, so I always relent but I’m beginning to wonder if his projects would be more fulfilling if they had actual direction. Is it possible to rid my home of toilet paper roll rockets and cardboard houses?
Elevation Handmade enters the chat. Described as a resource for kids who love all crafts, cooking, baking and more, their Makers Club Membership sounded like just the thing to help my creative homeschooled boy work on his handicraft skills. The Makers Club Membership comes in a monthly or yearly subscription, with online learning offering step-by-step instructions and videos, an in-depth look at materials and projects, as well as Live sessions with students and social hangouts with other kids who like to craft just like mine.
So, What kind of Lifelong Skills will your Child Learn?
The Makers Club is the very definition of “Hands-on”. My son had his choice of classes (not taught by me) including:
⁃ Knitting
⁃ Using a Sewing Machine
⁃ Hand Sewing
⁃ Baking
⁃ Clay Work
⁃ Quick Projects
⁃ Holiday Projects
It gives your child the foundational skills to build on that will make their future projects masterpieces! If you’ve got a kid that needs to show off all the cool stuff they’ve made, they can now turn their attention to within The Makers Club with Show and Tells and one on one time with a teacher. Everything is celebrated and as a Mama, I’m looking forward to seeing more than paper and cardboard cutouts.
Chelsie Smith, the force behind Elevation Handmade and The Makers Club, is an elementary teacher with a passion for crafting. In The Makers Club your child gets a chance to not only express themselves with unlimited access to kid friendly instructions and videos, but you the parent don’t have to be the teacher. The club is geared toward kids 8 and up and there is something in there for everyone.
If you’re ready to see some projects in action, let’s get Crafting!
My son was excited to get started with The Makers Club, so I let him take the lead to truly test the program’s child friendliness and my ability to be hands off. Logging in was very simple with our chosen credentials and the program can be accessed on a mobile device or computer. From the Dashboard, Cash could see all of the available projects right on the main page and a welcome video that gives you a tour of the site. There are badges to collect and a Monthly Calendar to keep up with live sessions. The calendar is printable and my kid immediately claimed it as his “Craft Calendar”. Cash chose to start with a Quick Project. In case you’re wondering, his quick project did indeed become a long project but watching him work on it brought me a lot of personal joy.
For his first project Cash made a Tic-Tac-Toe Travel Rock Game. In fact, he made sure to write in the comments section to Chelsie, “I think I like this!” and was pleasantly surprised when she quickly responded back. I had all of the supplies needed for the craft in my supplies except for the rocks that we needed to use for game piece (notice I’m talking about “we” now – this is of no fault of The Makers Club – I just thought it would be fun to join in). Cash and I suddenly had a good reason for a midday hike out into nature. Score a point for Elevation Handmade.
After collecting rocks (and shells, and clover), we headed inside to really get to work. Cash customized multiple sets of rocks to use as game pieces, using paint and brushes, then after they dried covered them with a clear gloss sealer. He even made his own carrying bag for the pieces that served as the game board. He was able to do all of this by following the downloaded instructions he printed out. I can only imagine that he would have had more fun if his Daddy wasn’t standing over him critiquing his painting skills…
The next project Cash chose was a full sets of lessons about working in Clay. Each video detailed different kinds of clay and their attributes as well as techniques for working with them and decorating them. I thought I knew all that was needed to know about clay but found myself watching the videos with him receiving a refresher course. Chelsie even gives her students specifics including the stores where she purchased her supplies and a cost estimate. I had clay in my art kit so I dumped it in front of Cash and went off to clean the house while he was busy. For that day, The Makers Club was his art class and at that point I was satisfied that it was more than adequate to handle the job. When I returned a good while later, Cash had made both a clay heart and a pinch pot. I was impressed!
Cash can’t wait to start the Hand Sewing Projects. The promise of making his very own stuffie was way too tempting for my creative kid. I’ve already printed out the supply list and I plan to help him pickup the supplies on our next outing. The Makers Club in my house is a hit and I’m looking forward to seeing many quality projects that I’ll want to keep in the near future.
I think this means I can finally recycle some cardboard boxes!
I’ve got a surprise for you….
Use code MAKERSCLUB50 to get 50% off your first month of The Makers Club! Make sure you head on over and see them at http://www.elevationhandmade.com before this offer expires 7/31/23!
@Mamasweetbaby 
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