Heirloom Skills
Every family has something one person knows how to do and nobody else does: the way to sew on a button so it stays, the trick for a bike puncture. Here is a simple way to hand one on, in four short evenings, and a card to write it down so it is not lost again.
Evening 1: Watch
You: Do the whole thing once, slowly, saying out loud what you are doing and why.
They: Watch and ask anything. Their hands stay in their lap.
Evening 2: Together
You: Do it side by side. You do one step, they copy it, then the next.
They: Copy each step straight after you. Mistakes are fine; just do the step again.
Evening 3: Ask only
You: Keep your hands still. You may only ask questions: "What comes next?" "What would happen if…?"
They: Do the whole thing. When stuck, say what they think the next step is before trying it.
Evening 4: Teach on
You: Be the learner. Let them teach it to you, or to someone else, and do exactly what they say.
They: Teach it from the start, the way they would want to have been taught.
Not sure what to teach?
- Sew on a button. A needle, thread, a button and an old shirt. Keep the needle in a pincushion between turns.
- Fold a paper boat. A sheet of A4 paper.
- Cook rice in a pan. Rice, water, a pan with a lid and a hob. A grown-up stays at the hob the whole time.
- Fix a bike puncture. Tyre levers, a patch kit, a pump and a bowl of water.
- Write a thank-you letter. Paper, a pen and someone to thank.
- Riffle-shuffle a deck of cards. An old deck you do not mind bending.
The skill card
Print this and fill it in by hand at the end of evening four. Keep it with the family's recipes.
- The skill
- Who taught me
- Who taught them
- Evening 1, watching: what I noticed
- Evening 2, together: the step that was hardest
- Evening 3, asking only: the question that helped
- Evening 4, teaching on: who I taught
- The one thing to remember
Evening three is the hard one: keeping your hands still. It is the same idea as the Question Card. For family games, see Heirloom Rules.