I taught 3 siblings to sew last summer. Two boys 13 and 10 and their sister, 7. We started with string blocks (no rotary cutting needed. I had the foundation blocks precut and I trimmed up the blocks when they were finished.) and moved up to pillowcases at the end of the summer. Even the 13 yr old had a great time. We made the blocks for a Quilt of Valor. I told the kids if they made a pillowcase for QOV, they could pick out fabric for their own pillowcase. A trip to the fabric store, pizza and a day w/o mom there was the highlight of the summer. They did great and had fun. I told the boys next summer we will play games instead! No rotary cutter needed.