Sewing Cards for Shoeboxes

I can remember when I was a little girl having sewing cards to play with. I loved them. Of course, that was long before all the technology age. These days you never see children with this types of activities. But then in the countries where our shoeboxes go, things are different. The children don't have access to the technology that our kids in the US have. Sewing cards can still be a great gift. It is a wonderful way for small children to develop their fine motor skills and might even help them in learning beginning sewing skills. IMO, the sewing cards will be great for our girl or boy boxes for the 2-4 age group.

There are a lot of options for making sewing cards for you boxes. One way is to use foam sheets. You can buy rectangle sheets like these 

 at any craft store or stores like Wal-Mart, etc.

You can draw or trace patterns on these and then cut them out. You can trace cookie cutters, get patterns out of color books or use my patterns. more patterns

You can also find foam figures that can be used. I found rabbit and chick shapes on sale after Easter. I also found butterflies that I was able to buy at Michael's with a 40% coupon. 

Materials needed:

Foam and shapes to cut or pre-cut foam shapes

1/4"  circle hole punch

yarn or shoe laces

tape or white glue

1. After you have your shape or have cut out your shape, punch holes around the edge at least 1/4" from the outer edge. Holes should be punched about 1/2" apart but it doesn't have to be exact.
2. Cut a length of yarn about 30". Tie a pony bead on one end and wrap the other end with tape. You can use masking tape or scotch tape. Another way to do the end is to dip it in white glue and let it dry to make a stiff end.  When I started, I was using just the yarn but then I found 8 pair of shoe laces for $1 at Dollar Tree. Shoe laces actually work best but unless you can find them cheap they can get pretty expensive.
3. Pack them 4 in a sandwich size zipper bag with 4 piece of yarn or shoe laces in each. We thread one of these so that the child will have an idea of what to do with them.

You will want to put 4 different shapes and/or colors in each bag to give the child some variety. 

This is a very simple item that you can put in shoe boxes. Your children can help you make these and be more involved in the packing. Packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child is one of the best ways that I know to teach your children about sharing and missions.