My 8 yo son (who is autistic) asked me to teach him to sew last weekend. Hes not all that good on following directions, but, we managed to do some decorative stitches and sew a square in the straight thread, with me showing him how to turn corners and which buttons to push to get the stitch he wanted to do. He even used the gas pedal, although I did have the machine running dead slow lol. It was cute, he keft forgetting to guide the fabric.
But he was VERY proud of himself for sewing a square, he took that bit of fabric everywhere and showed and told anyone who would listen.
Must say, I was a bit apprehensive of giving him a go, but Im glad I did, he tried really hard and was at it for almost an hour before he got bored with it. Might be able to teach him to sew a little drwstring bag for his soccer boots next :-)