Make it together, make it, don't buy it

Contrary to belief, homemade items don't require any great amount of talent; and the best part is, you save money. Another wonderful aspect about making things at home vs. running to the store, is that it gives me some quality time I can spend with my children-doing things that will require their little brains to work, explore, and be creative. Recently, I decided to make some homemade soap. My daughter watched me from a distance as I mixed the lye/water mixture (that part should be done without the help of your children) and then she helped me measure out the fats and oils and oats we wanted to use. When it was time for pouring the lye soap into the molds, she helped me vaseline my molds so the soap wouldn't stick to the trays. She was a great help to me and she was learning about soap and how it is made. In her little three-year-old mind, a new idea was forming, soap doesn't just happen, it is made.
My daughter has also helped me make quilts. Like I said, she is three, so what your child will be able to help with is dependant on their ability to handle certain aspects of the craft. But as I cut the squares, my daughter stacks them neatly into a pile. My one year old son throws the scraps into the trash can and they both have fun playing with the material in between time (they like to wrap themselves in cloths or play "peek-a-boo" with the pieces over their heads). When all the pieces are cut, we all sit down on the floor and lay out the pieces. We decide which piece should go where in the quilt-you may be suprised at how well your children do at this, my three year old has quite the eye for what should go where. Once we settle on a design, I pick up the rows in the order I will sew them in, then stack the rows from top to bottom. I pull out the machine and my daughter hands me one piece at a time. When a row is finished she lays the rows out on the floor where we can watch the quilt start to take shape. Once the rows are completed we stack the rows up, top to bottom, and again, my daughter hands them to me in order. Once the face of the quilt is done we all roll around all over it and play for a bit (sometimes we quit halfway through and do this too, just for a breather). Adding the badding and the backing is usually Mommy's job, but as they grow, I'm sure they will like helping with this too. Once the badding and backing are on, we all sit down to tie it off. My son plays with the string while my daughter hands me peices of it to tie the quilt off. My daughter even enjoys "knotting" some of the strings herself. And, best part is, we do all this without spending anything except for badding if we choose to put it in our quilt. We use old sheets for the backing, and the front is from scraps we had or old clothes. Now my children know where covers come from, they are made.
My son mostly plays with the materials we use, since he is one, there isn't much he can really do yet. Although, he does understand picking up and throwing away very well, so I make sure to include him if we need anything picked up or thrown away. My three year old, on the other hand, can do increadable things when I take the time to show her and help her develop her skills. So note, any projects you do, things will take time when you add kids to the equation, but it is so fun, and the more you include them, the better and more "skillful" they will become.