I honestly believe basic crochet should be taught as a life skill, much like basic stitches or how to sew on a button.

This is not a crochet vs knitting thing. It has nothing to do with making clothes or blankets.

The ability to crochet has other practical uses that can be used in a variety of situations. Possibly even survival ones.

Today's use isn’t about survival (unless of course you need giant bubbles to live, then it could be). We mixed up a solution of giant bubble mix, but instead of using sticks and rope, I used some wire hangers to make rigid bubble wands. I think they’re easier to manage, less likely to get tangled.

Wire hangers by themselves did not work. We pondered a bit, before realizing that there isn’t enough surface area to hold the solution - they dry out and bubble goes pop. I wrapped them in some jute-covered wire that I had on hand. That was an improvement, but I think it could be even better.

So I decided to crochet over the wire. Easy to do, single stitch over and under to wrap around the wire. I have a love-hate relationship with this yarn. Love because it is useful. I would rather use cotton, linen, jute over acrylic any day. Hate because this unravels worse than embroidery thread. Good if you want to split into thinner cotton threads, not good when you’re trying to crochet the whole thing.

Of course, I still need to teach this skill to my kids, but it will be taught. In the meantime, the crocheted bubble wand did well, though I think I know why the rope ones are used for the big bubbles - it's easier to close them off before they pop.