create:

The Dreamcatcher

After a long day of work I find myself longing for the sweet bedtime ritual I share with my kids. We start to quiet things down, read a story, draw in their dream journals and talk about their days or things we’re looking forward to. Yet, even with all this serenity in place, fears of bad dreams can still invade a peaceful evening.

I know that I have enough of an understanding of the world that I can talk myself down from my own irrational fears, but for the wee ones, the world is still so large and unknown. When their fears of bad dreams arise, I try not to dismiss them (even though I’m usually exhausted and just want to fall asleep myself). We talk through the anxiety and try to come up with specific proof that we really don’t have to worry about things like monsters, pirates or Star Wars droids.

Both of my kids have made dreamcatchers to hang over their beds, and this sweet craft project also helps to relax them. Sometimes, instead of drawing in their dream journals, we’ll take a drawing that they did of something they would like to dream about and put it into the weaving of the dreamcatcher for good measure.

Books like Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak and There's a Nightmare in My Closet, by Mercer Mayer are great books to help further your discussions about what a silly nuisance bad dreams can be.

What You Need to Make Your Own Dreamcatcher

• 1 embroidery hoop
• 2 yards of embroidery thread or twine
• Scissors
• Assorted decorations (beads, feathers, ribbon, etc.)