African-born start-up grows entrepreneurship and education

The Creative Crafting Club gives stay-at-home parents everything they need to start a crafting club which works around their family schedule. PHOTO: Image Collab

The Creative Crafting Club, a craft club start-up based in Cape Town, founded by Christelle Janse Van Rensburg, an architect, and her sister Stefanie de Wet, an engineer, is empowering stay-at-home parents to become entrepreneurs while creating an opportunity to educate tots to 12 year olds. The online subscription site offers creative crafting lesson plans, teaching resources and business acumen at a monthly fee to parents, educators and entrepreneurs to start a children’s creative crafting club in their community.

Christelle says research shows mothers are 79% less likely to be hired and earn 14 to 18% less than non-mothers and stay-at-home moms are also half as likely to get a job interview as moms who were retrenched. She says this suggests that businesses are concerned about stay-at-home parents’ prioritising family over work.

“One of the biggest struggles we see moms face is finding a flexible way to generate extra income. Through the success of our franchise Canvas Club, which has expanded to over 50 franchise locations across three countries in two years, we saw the need to develop a worldwide business model that not only encourages creativity in children, but entrepreneurship in parents too,” says Christelle.

According to her, achieving a healthy work-family balance is proving to be a challenge for mothers and they have seen the sense of community and transformation their membership platform is creating for women first-hand. She says she was highly stressed as an architect working long hours and something had to give, and the Creative Crafting Club changed her world.

Stephanie says the club membership’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) - based lesson plans have been endorsed by occupational therapists, engineers, architects and artists to ensure the crafting topics are contemporary, child-friendly and of international standards for children ages 2 to 12 years. She says they can be used to complement school curriculums, extramural activities or to run a creative at-home business.

The Creative Crafting Club offers an affordable online monthly membership that gives stay-at-home parents everything they need to start a crafting club which works around their family schedule. They receive tried-and-tested, step-by-step lesson plans including games and fun themes for children aged 2 to 12. They receive access to teaching resources including videos, templates and supply lists. Parents are also part of a community of like-minded people facing the same challenges as they are where they can share their advice and achievements

“Being a mom is a rewarding job, but that doesn’t mean you have to choose between parenting and a fulfilling career. Our club membership not only tackles education but encourages entrepreneurship in communities, especially for stay-at-home parents in Africa who are often tasked with looking after not only their own children, but other children in their communities too,” says Stephanie.

For more information visit www.CreativeCraftingClub.com or email info@creativecraftingclub.com.