Arts, Crafts, and DIY

Encouraging your kids to get creative is so important for their healthy development - and I don't just say that because I'm an artist. Creativity promotes growth in all areas of child development from physical traits like hand-eye coordination and sensory perception, to academic qualities like problem solving and attention span, as well as social skills like improving communication skills and how they express their wants and needs.

But just like with any activity, there's a thousand ways for determined children to hurt themselves, so here's some of the things that my medical colleagues have encountered during their time working in emergency medicine.

The Basics

  • Running with scissors

We've all been told not to run with scissors. We've all told our children not to run with scissors. We've probably all told someone else's child not to run with scissors. Running with scissors is just something that children are hardwired to do.

Try to convince the children in your vicinity to walk slowly with scissors, and if they're of an age where they're likely to stumble and trip even when walking, just hold the scissors for them.

If the do have to carry scissors around, make sure they hold them in a fist with the (closed) blades facing down. At least if they're going to trip and stab themselves it'll be in the thigh, not the eye.

Remember - the thigh, not the eye

  • Small things can be swallowed...

...or shoved up noses.

Or in ears.

Seriously, this isn't news, small items are choking hazards. And if they're not choking hazards, they're 'need a x-ray to make sure there are no perforated bowels' hazards.

If you've ever sat in an emergency department waiting for someone available to remove a broken off bit of crayon from a child's nose, you'll know that you're not going to be a priority. You will waste the whole evening sitting around, and the medical staff will bite back if you complain about the wait.

Just keep an eye on your kids and make sure small items stay on the OUTSIDE of their bodies.

  • Don't eat the glue.

Speaking of things that should stay on the outside of bodies... Glue and paint might look delicious (who hasn't experienced an intrusive thought once in their life, telling them to taste the purple?!) but they're probably not safe to eat. Even the non-toxic stuff that TECHNICALLY won't kill you isn't going to be very good for your little one.

Don't let them eat the glue my friends.

Arts

Compared to other hobbies like skydiving, or tiger-hunting, drawing and painting are relatively low risk activities. But we know that children are determined to get hurt, so let's talk about that.

  • Paints

Oil paint pigments can be toxic if ingested, and the solvents used for thinning can be irritating to skin and eyes. Lots of oil painters actually use latex (or latex free) gloves while they're painting to protect their skin from both the paint and the thinners.

Children's skin is so much more delicate than adult skin, so make sure that your child is mature enough before you buy those brand new sets of oil paints.

This isn't an issue of skill or talent, for the record. If you want to encourage your child's painting talents but don't want to risk them getting contact skin irritation or respiratory distress, you can invest in some good quality gouache paint, which is water based and much kinder on the skin.

Acrylics are also (generally) non-toxic and water based, but keep in mind that these paints are a fluid plastic that dries quickly into a waterproof film. While they can be washed off skin, they may require a significant amount of scrubbing, and if the paint gets into fabric or other porous surfaces like wooden floors, or painted walls, it's not coming out. Ever.

Other hobby paints like enamel paints or spray paints can also cause skin and breathing irritation, so make sure you read the safety advice provided with any type of paint that you use.

  • Pens and markers

Most pens and markers are safe to use, but there are a few things to be aware of.

Alcohol markers (and whiteboard markers) can have strong smells and fumes that can cause headaches. Frequent or prolonged skin contact with these pens can cause irritation.

The good news is that all that hand sanitiser that we bought in bulk over the pandemic can be used to wash off any residual ink from hands.

One thing that I bet you never thought you'd have to worry about is accidental tattooing. I swear this is a true story - my dad has a green spot on his lower lip from a time when he was holding a fountain pen lid between his teeth and missed when he went to recap his pen. He stabbed himself in the lip, and left the ink under his skin. I've actually done the same thing - but with an ultra slim tipped gel fine liner. Gel ink, it turns out, does not make for a good tattoo, and my finger swelled right up and eventually the ink came out like a splinter. I'm not saying it's likely to happen, but it's a thing that can happen.

  • Physical strain

Okay, this one is a stretch, and it'll only apply to a very small portion of the population, but I fall into this portion of the population, so I feel compelled to talk about it.

If your child is spending hours and hours hunched over a desk working away on their drawing skills, they can develop all sorts of physical aches and pains. Wrist pain, elbow pain, back pain, neck pain, headaches, and eye strain are just some of the injuries I've sustained from poor posture and dedication to comic books.

It's not a high risk hobby, but having to get a doctor's note to excuse your child from P.E. because they spent all weekend colouring is something that can happen. Try encouraging your child to sit up straight, and consider getting them a drawing board or easel to raise their work so they're less likely to fold up like a pretzel while they work.

Crafts

'Crafts' is such a broad topic. Really, it's anything that you make with your hands. I'm not sure where the line is between crafts and DIY - I think maybe it's in how dangerous the tools are. If you could hurt yourself a little, it's probably a craft. If you could remove a limb by accident, it's probably a DIY.

  • Hot things

Glue guns, soldering irons, wax melters, irons... They all get hot. I talk more about burns and scalds here but here are the headlines.

Hot things burn skin. Don't let your children use hot things unsupervised. If you're putting hot things away, make sure they're out of reach and not somewhere they could fall or be knocked down until they're fully cooled.

  • Sticky things

Not all glues are suitable to be used by children. If you've ever had to pry apart any body parts that got accidentally superglued together you'll know what I mean.

Some glues have fumes that can cause irritation to eyes and airways. Some glues cause irritation, rashes, and even burns on skin. Some glues (like superglue) were specifically designed for gluing skin to skin.

All I'm saying is to just make sure that the glue your child is using is appropriate for their needs and level of competency.

  • Sharp things

We talked about not running with scissors, but what about using them?

If your child is left handed, PLEASE get them left handed scissors. Make sure the scissors they're using are appropriate for what they're cutting. A huge pair of pinking shears to cut some paper is overkill, and trying to cut through leather with nail scissors is only going to end in tears. For younger children get the rounded end safety scissors as it makes any attempts at stabbing younger siblings much less effective.

If and when your child starts using scalpels or craft knives, remember that a sharp blade is less dangerous than a dull one. A dull blade is more likely to skip and slip. Show your children how to safely use a metal edged ruler to cut against, and make sure they know that many light passes with the knife is both safer AND more effective than pressing really hard and trying to cut it in one go.

It may seem obvious, but make sure your child is using an appropriate surface to cut on, like a cutting mat. Their lap is not an appropriate cutting surface.

These blades are sharp, so if you would leave your child unattended to work with big knives in the kitchen, you shouldn't be leaving them unattended with craft knifes either.

Pencil sharpeners are relatively safe, but the temptation to stick your pinky finger in and swivel can be strong. If you have those old school desktop sharpeners (or worse, an electric one), be aware that yes, sharpeners do work on fingers, and yes, there will be blood.

  • Sewing

Sewing is such a gentle pastime, I hear you cry, how can sewing be dangerous? Clearly you've never accidentally run your hand through a sewing machine before.

I am absolutely the first person to admit that this is a bad idea, but at some point when my grandmother was teaching me to sew, I got in the habit of keeping pins in my mouth.

This is a bad habit, and you should not pass it down to your children. You can swallow pins. Swallowing pins is bad for children (and adults). You can get magnetic pin holders that go on your wrist, which is much safer, and let's face it, much less gross. Who want's to wear a dress that's been pinned together with spitty pins?

Pin cushions are also a great idea, but beware that if you're putting needles in, they can get swallowed up by the cushion itself, which then becomes a secret stab cushion if it's held too tightly. Storing pins and needles by pinning them to your own clothes is also a great way to accidental impaling.

  • Other things


I'm sure there are loads of things that could be dangerous in the crafting world - things that I've never come across and likely never will. Some honourable mentions (based on personal experience) include:

Fishing wire! Fishing wire is used in jewellery making. It CANNOT be snapped with your bare hands. If you try too hard to snap it with your bare hands, you WILL cut yourself. The cut will be deep and painful - like a paper cut but so much worse - and explaining to the doctor that 'it hurt but you kept going until you bled' is... awkward.

Staplers! You'd have thought that it's obvious that you shouldn't test a stapler on the palm of your hand, and yet we've all done it. Let's break the cycle, don't let your kids staple themselves. Or each other.

Beads! We know that beads are a choking hazard, they're small things, and we talked about small things earlier, remember. BUT, let's say, hypothetically, that you're a kid, maybe seven years old, and you're making bracelets on your bedroom floor. You finish, and don't quite clear up all the beads scattered around the place. Later, you're playing with your friends and you jump off your bed and land, barefoot, on some of those errant beads. You'd be surprised how hard (and painful) it is to pull them out with tweezers. I couldn't walk on that foot for a week.

Double sided sticky tape! The tape got tangled in my hair, and long story short, that's how I got my first bob cut. Maybe it wasn't technically an injury, but it was a traumatic day.

D.I.Y.

Teaching your children DIY skills is one of the most long term beneficial thing you can do for them. If you get them started young, then as they enter into adulthood they won't find the idea of putting up a shelf or replacing an oven element completely terrifying.

But children playing with power tools IS completely terrifying, so make sure that you teach them proper safety, and how to correctly use the tools and machines around them. Try to keep it age appropriate. There's no reason a five year old should be using a chainsaw.

And make sure you know what you're doing too! If you're doing it for the first time or reciting what you've just learnt from a youtube tutorial, maybe have a practice first before you open up a DIY academy in the back garden.

Here's some basic safety that you should already know, but let's recap:

  • Keep long hair tied back

Make sure your children with long hair have it tied back. Long hair can get caught in machinery, and long hair can be ripped out from the scalp. Big Ouch.

'Long' means anyone with hair can be tied back.

  • Avoid wearing loose clothing like scarves or long skirts

  • Fancy dress is not appropriate DIY wear.

  • Make everyone wear safety goggles. Everyone. Even you.

  • If you have machines, one person at a time gets to use them. I have a story about this from art school, but now is not the time to talk about it.

  • Don't pretend to hammer, staple, saw, hack, or otherwise maim people with your tools. Your children will copy you, and it will end badly

  • Avoid wearing loose clothing like scarves or long skirts

Loose clothing behaves like long hair. It can get caught on things and cause unnecessary chaos. I'm not talking spandex and lycra, but make sure your kids are wearing appropriate DIY clothes.

Fancy dress is not appropriate DIY clothes. Remember: No capes.

  • Make everyone wear safety goggles

Everyone. Even you.

I get it, safety goggles aren't cool. I don't care, you're probably not that cool either anyway. Just wear the safety goggles, getting dirt, debris, and sharp things in your eyes is really really unpleasant

  • One person at a time gets to use the machine

There's a horror story I can tell you about from when I was at art school, and two people were using the printing press at the same time. Long story short, the emergency stop button was needed, paramedics were called, and one of the girls left the building with only one functional hand.

Don't let more than one person at a time use the machine - and the person who's using it is the one who controls the buttons.

  • Don't pretend to hammer, staple, saw, hack, or otherwise maim people with your tools

Do you know what's a really easy way to accidentally nail gun someone's hand to a plank of wood?

Pretending to nail-gun their hand to a plank of wood.

I know Penn and Teller do it, but until you're one half of an internationally beloved magician duo, maybe leave that trick to the professionals. Your children will copy your behaviour in the workroom because you're their hero, so show them how to be responsible or it will end badly.

  • Falls

The most common cause of injury in the home is falling, and any time you're up a ladder, you're much more likely to fall than when you've got all your feet on the ground.

Please teach your children how to stay safe of ladders - that means three points of contact on the ladder at all times, and not leaning off the ladder to reach for the top corner. Trust me, it'll take longer to take a trip to the hospital than it will to just get down and move the ladder along those last six inches.

It's not just ladders. Window sills, trees, the top of the staircase, the roof, swivel chairs, and the kitchen counter are all places your child can fall from. Or they could just trip over something in the garage. Blocks of wood lying on the floor, wires lying across the walkways, power tools left in the middle of the room, those extra long paint roller handles... The trips and falls might normally be expected bumps, but in a DIY environment it's not so much the falling that's the problem as the landing. Landing face first on a pile of scrap wood with the nails still in is going to be the opposite of a good time.

  • Electricity is not your friend

When I was living in rented accommodation in London our washing machine broke. The guy who came to fix it pointed at an exposed wire dangling a foot above the puddle of water that I'd been standing in when the machine flooded the kitchen and said "Do you know what we call that in the industry? A death trap."

The washing machine had been installed by the landlord's dad who was a prolific (and professional) handyman and could 'do literally anything and everything'.

When I got the 40 year old kitchen in my first home redone (for the first time since the house had been built, I think), the electrician came and had to change some of the wiring in the house. It took him THREE DAYS to un pick the dodgy wiring that the previous owner had DIY-ed. The electrician said that it was a miracle the house hadn't burned down already.

My point is: electricity is not your friend. Unless you are a qualified electrician, you SHOULD NOT be teaching your child how to do electrics.

Just don't do it.

Resources

  • Resources

Please send me emails with updates, news, and special announcements

Copyrights 2025 | PiPN™ |