This Teacher Missed Her Students So Much, She Knitted Tiny Dolls Of All 23 Kids In Her Class

While most parents are at least a tiny bit upset about schools being closed due to the pandemic and miss having their few hours away from their kids, people rarely realize many teachers have their reasons to be upset too. Not only did they have to completely change their teaching habits and adapt to online teaching, they also… simply miss their students. This Dutch primary school teacher missed her pupils so much due to the pandemic, she had the most adorable idea to knit a teeny tiny cute doll to represent each and every one of her 23 students.

While not having to go to school was great for most kids at first, it wore off quite quickly as they missed seeing their friends and teachers and being able to play outside during recess. Many teachers miss the comfort of being able to teach in a classroom and not having to deal with all the shenanigans that online teaching brings them. Miss Ingeborg Meinster-Van der Duin, a primary school teacher at the Dr. H.Bavinck school in Haarlem, Netherlands, was really upset by not being able to see her pupils every day, too. "It was all up and running that the school closed. It all hit me like this. The children were no longer in school. And I miss them so much," she said.

Miss Ingeborg decided she had to do something about it and came up with the cutest idea to knit little tiny dolls representing all 23 students in her class. She had seen similar dolls on Pinterest and thought, why not do it herself? The teacher gave each doll clothes to each student's liking—boys who love dressing in dark clothes got dark sweaters and girls who swear by wearing cardigans got those. Even glasses and freckles were thought of—everything was there. Miss Ingeborg spent approximately three to four hours on each doll.

The teacher made the dolls with such attention to detail, the kids were instantly able to tell who’s who when she showed them to the class. The only question the kids had was where was Miss Ingeborg herself? Therefore, she spent a couple more hours knitting and made a little doll for herself, too. "I keep this in. Next year I will also make dolls of the next class. Colleagues have also already asked if I want to knit their classes. But there really is no time for that," she said.

When the kids came to the school one by one to collect their belongings that they’d left behind prior to the coronavirus lockdown, she was able to see her beloved pupils again at least for a little while. She gave out the dolls to the children, who were really excited about seeing them in person. Each doll is about 10 centimeters tall and represents them with such great detail, there’s no doubt about who it is.