Greetings and welcome to my segment this week. Last week I took a break from doing a segment. I had
to get ready for a big craft fair on Saturday. To say the least I was thankful that I had plenty of
goodies for the customers to buy. Since I did the craft fair I thought that I would talk about how we
can have our children help us out when possible.
All three of my children seem to be very helpful children when it comes to certain things. They like to
help me get the truck loaded, which can be like a jigsaw puzzle. Once the truck is loaded, we can get
moving towards the craft fair. I have found that if I can set up the night before it makes a great
difference, I am not rushed the morning of the craft fair. Once we get to where we can set up. The
kids can be very helpful in helping unload the truck. I have a couple of heavier pieces that I need help
both setting up and taking down.
Now that the vehicle is all unloaded it is time to set up. You can give the children small tasks that they
will be able to accomplish without to much fuss. One of the things I have found that my youngest can
do without problems is my ornie tree. I have a very simple post that has pegs that can have the ornies
put on it. After putting the ornies on this, they can help put some extra ornies on a small primitive tree.
I have found that this works in my area as it shows what the ornies look like on a tree but you don’t have
to carry a large tree and set it up.
After that simple task is done, they are great to hand you things that you need. I have found that the
more that you include the children with the process of doing craft fairs, the more understanding they
are. Now that you have finished your set up of the booth, then it is time to go home and rest for a few
hours until the next morning. I usually like to have one of my children help me at the craft fair. I don’t
take my youngest as she can be a handful and talks about silly things to the customers. But the older
ones can be great helpers for you. If there is a small break they can sit with the booth while you run to
the bathroom or to get something to eat.
Once the fair is over my children are great helpers on getting things packed and loaded into the truck.
This is just another aspect of the craft fairs that they can learn about. I find that it is important that
I make sure that I load things back the way I had time before. That way if I need something I can
find it without issues.
So now that the vehicle is loaded and we are on our way back home it is a great time to ask them how
they thought it went. Mine always like to know how it went, so we talk about it. This is a great way for
them to see what the customers were buying. We even come up with new ideas for the next time. Some
craft fairs are better then others, so this helps the children understand why we can be frustrated.
Sometimes it feels that if we work hard and can’t sell much. Then there are the other times that it
works out great and we do well at the craft fairs. Having your children see both ways helps them
understand that it is a hard venture, but can be a rather rewarding one in the end.
I realize that not everyone will want to include their children in the process of the craft fair set up on
take down. But I would recommend at least giving it a try once to see if it works for you and your
children. They may get an eye opener and understand what we go through durning craft fair season.
Thanks for listening to my segment this week and I hope that you have a great week. If you have any
comments about this or a past segment please feel free to stop by my site and send me an email. Visit
at www.scrappinwitharmywife.com Happy Crafting and Craft Fairs!
