Why I Stopped Giving My Craft Class Students Choices (And Why the Classes Got Better)
- Mar 29
- 2 min read
Turns out "every card deserves to be different" was a terrible class policy.
My greeting card slogan was: "Because every card deserves to be different." I believed it. Still do, honestly. It's a good brand philosophy.
It was also a catastrophic approach to running a craft class.
Here's what happens when you give kids — or adults — too many options in a creative setting: everything slows down. People can't choose. They look at what someone else picked and immediately want that one instead. "Why does she have the blue one?" "Can I switch?" "I thought we could pick anything."
Now you're not running a craft class. You're managing a negotiation.
I learned this the hard way, repeatedly, before I finally did the obvious thing: I standardized the materials. Same base. Same tools. Same palette for everyone.
And something interesting happened: the classes got more creative, not less.
When the "what do I get" question is removed from the
room, people actually start thinking about what they want to make. They lean into their own ideas instead of comparing materials with the person next to them.
Structure didn't kill the creativity. It created the conditions for creativity to actually happen.
How to Teach a Craft Class: What I Changed and Why It Worked
One core project per class. Not three options, not "you can do whatever you want." One project, clear steps, everyone starts from the same place.
Creativity lives in execution, not selection. How you use the materials is where individual expression comes through. That's enough.
Supply planning became simple. Same materials every class means I can buy in advance, keep costs predictable, and never run short.
Less drama. Dramatically less drama.
If you're teaching craft classes — or thinking about starting — this is the first thing I'd tell you. Design the project to fit the time. Standardize the materials. Let the creativity show up in the doing.
Comments