At first glance, it looks like a quiet indoor recess activity at C-4 Elementary. But inside Deb Richardson’s classroom, students are learning far more than how to loop yarn.
During indoor recess, the room is calm and focused as students sit crocheting — trading the usual noise and restless energy for patience, concentration and problem-solving.
Richardson, a fourth-grade teacher who recently returned to USD 470 after retiring several years ago, said she wanted to give students a structured and meaningful option during indoor recess. To make it happen, she reached out to retired teacher Luann Hoskins.
Now, Hoskins regularly visits the classroom to teach students how to crochet.
“I wanted something that would help them slow down and stay focused,” Richardson said. “This has done exactly that. The room feels calm, and the kids are engaged in what they are doing.”
For Hoskins, crochet has been part of her life since childhood. Continue below ad.
“I learned when I was a little girl, watching my mom and grandma make doilies,” she said. “I would get bored, so my grandpa made me a ball of yarn and even carved me a crochet hook out of wood. I have loved it ever since.”
Over the years, Hoskins has shared that skill with countless students and said the lessons extend well beyond making scarves or blankets.
“It takes patience and attention,” she said. “Students have to follow steps, fix mistakes and keep trying. Those are the same skills they use in the classroom every day.”
Richardson said that connection to academics is one of the program’s biggest benefits.
“This supports what we do in the classroom,” she said. “Students are building fine motor skills, problem-solving skills and confidence. Those skills carry right into their learning.”
Students say they can feel the difference themselves.
“I love it because it is fun and calming,” fourth grader Evangeline Yocum said. “It helps me relax and focus.”
Greyson Soule said learning crochet taught him persistence.
“It was really hard at first,” he said. “But I did not give up. Now I am getting better, and I feel proud.”
As students work through stitches and patterns, the atmosphere in the classroom remains quiet and productive — a simple activity creating lessons that reach far beyond recess.
“They are calm, focused, and they are building skills that will help them in school and beyond,” Richardson said.
