Last fall, I stumbled upon a website for KidKnits, and I was intrigued by their mission. KidKnits was founded in 2011, by a nine-year-old girl named Ellie. In the summer of 2011, she and her GIRL SCOUT TROOP had learned to knit on a round loom. She enjoyed making hats for others which gave her a great idea. She took that idea and ran with it. Ellie and her family created this organization that sells knitting craft kits. These kits include yarn that is hand-spun and dyed by women in Rwanda and Chile. These women and their families benefit from the sale of these kits. While bumping around the KidKnits website, I decided I would love to receive a KidKnits craft kit for Christmas that year. I was so excited to open the bag to see the brightly-colored yarn! A few days later, my daughters and I began knitting our first hat by wrapping the soft yarn around the pegs of the round loom. Before we knew it, we had made a beautiful, warm, winter hat. We enjoyed this so much that we ran out to the craft store to purchase several more skeins of yarn. We made several hats that winter—for family, friends, and even baby dolls!
The girls
spent one entire meeting focusing on learning how to knit on the round loom and perfecting the technique as they started their first hat. They found out quickly not to wrap the yarn
too tightly around the pegs. They took their projects home, and we asked family members
to help them finish if they asked. I received some feedback from a
few parents—some of the girls required a great deal of help, and a couple needed to run out to buy new hooks. Once the girls
figured it out, they all decided they want to knit hats to give as
Christmas gifts this year!
Knowing we
would have all these items to donate, I did a quick internet search to find out
where we could take them. I discovered
an organization called Crayons to Computers that "operates a free store for teachers from nearly 600 greater Cincinnati
area schools in 16 counties (in Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Indiana),
offering new and gently used school supplies, educational tools, and
incentive items."
Crayons to Computers also promotes a program called Keep Our Kids Warm. They welcome donations of hats,
gloves, and mittens that teachers can take back to give their students in need. Perfect! I spoke with the Volunteer Coordinator and
scheduled a time to visit on a weekday evening, our typical meeting time. I also asked if there was anything the girls
could do to help out while we were there.
The girls in our troop are proudly showing their donations. |
See the shelves of hats, gloves, and mittens in center of photo. |
Upon our
arrival at the store, we were given a tour.
There were quite a few teachers bustling about, pushing carts full of
school supplies and essentials for their students. We learned that there are companies in our city
working hard to be Zero Waste companies, and they donate many different items to Crayons to Computers.
Staff and volunteers at Crayons to Computers find creative ways to use
the donations from these companies to benefit teachers and students. During our tour, we saw numerous examples of how these companies can reduce, reuse, and recycle to benefit our
communities. The girls really enjoyed
seeing this in action.
Repurposed packaging tubes make great tools for practicing math facts. |
After the
tour, the girls were asked to assemble packages of award certificates that will
be made available for teachers to take back to their classrooms. Our girls are eager to please, and they all
enjoy earning awards in school. They
understand how much it will mean to the students who would
eventually receive these awards. They truly enjoyed working on this project together.
Crayons to
Computers is a wonderful organization to visit!
Girl Scout troops of all ages can volunteer to help with various projects that need to be completed to ensure the sustainability of this organization. Depending on the project, troops could easily satisfy steps toward earning several different Daisy petals or Girl Scout badges. Thank you for reading!
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