14 Forgotten Crafts We All Learned in School
These are 14 old-school crafts that were once part of every school curriculum but are now rarely taught.
- Alyana Aguja
- 4 min read
Before tech took over the classroom, hands-on crafts gave students practical skills and creative expression. From carving soap to weaving baskets, these forgotten classroom activities taught patience, dexterity, and design. While many are now replaced by screens and worksheets, they live on in memory — and maybe a few dusty drawers.
1. Paper Mâché
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Paper mâché was once a go-to school project for making volcanoes, masks, or globes. It involved dipping newspaper strips into a glue mixture and layering them onto a mold. Today, many kids haven’t touched a newspaper, much less turned it into a sculpture.
2. Weaving on Cardboard Looms
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Weaving yarn through slits in a cardboard loom taught us patience and coordination. Projects often turned into coasters or wall hangings. It was hands-on art that introduced basic textile skills we barely realized we were learning.
3. Soap Carving
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Armed with a bar of Ivory soap and a blunt plastic knife, kids sculpted animals, faces, or abstract shapes. It was messy, surprisingly relaxing, and encouraged creativity with a material found in every bathroom. Now, with hygiene products mostly liquid or foaming, soap carving has washed away.
4. Macramé Keychains and Plant Hangers
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Using square knots and lanyard strings or twine, students crafted keychains or mini plant hangers. Macramé was big in the ’70s and ’90s, making comebacks in waves. For many, it was a tactile introduction to knotting and design.
5. Stamp Making with Potatoes
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Potato stamps were a fun way to learn about negative space and repetition in art. Kids would carve shapes into halved potatoes and dip them in paint for homemade printing. It was simple, tactile, and slightly absurd — in the best way.
6. Friendship Bracelets
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Tying colorful thread into elaborate patterns was a badge of honor in elementary and middle school. It was also an exercise in symmetry, color theory, and motor skills. Once a sleepover staple, friendship bracelets are now mostly DIY nostalgia.
7. Calligraphy with Dip Pens
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Before everyone typed on screens, learning to write beautifully with ink and a nib was a true skill. Calligraphy units in school emphasized line control, consistency, and artistic flair. The dip pens were messy but magical in the right hands.
8. Basket Weaving
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Using reeds, raffia, or strips of paper, basket weaving taught kids structure, form, and persistence. The process was slow but rewarding as the form gradually took shape. It was an early lesson in utility meeting artistry.
9. Tin Punch Art
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Students would hammer designs into aluminum sheets using nails and hammers. The result was rustic folk-style pieces with light shining through the holes. Safety was a concern, but the process was a rhythmic and satisfying introduction to metalwork.
10. Embroidery Samplers
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Needle and thread in hand, students stitched patterns into fabric to create samplers of different stitches. It encouraged focus and precision, and sometimes included your name or a favorite quote. Today, embroidery is a boutique hobby rather than a classroom mainstay.
11. Paper Quilling
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Rolling thin strips of paper into coils and pinching them into shapes taught detail and dexterity. Quilling often resulted in flowery designs or cards, glued onto pastel paper backgrounds. Once common in arts and crafts, it’s now more of a niche practice.
12. Origami Animals
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Learning to fold cranes, frogs, or jumping boxes wasn’t just fun; it introduced spatial reasoning and geometry. Each step required precision and patience, especially when using real origami paper. Origami has since faded from most curricula, replaced by digital lessons.
13. Clay Coil Pots
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Building bowls and cups from snakes of clay was a favorite beginner ceramics project. The repetitive process taught patience, symmetry, and hand-eye coordination. For many, it was their first encounter with functional art.
14. Tie-Dye Shirts
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Every student had a day of rubber bands and rainbow dyes. Tie-dye taught about color blending, saturation, and design while also being messy and joyful. Despite being popular at camps and fairs, it’s rarely done inside classrooms anymore.