Tag: handwork

Cardboard Nature Weaving

We are going to learn to weave on a loom together!

When I was a little girl in about grade 3 I went to a summer camp where a woman with very long hair and beautiful earrings taught us how to weave with beads on a loom. I had never seen a loom of any kind before and I watched with keen interest as she carefully threaded the beads onto her needle and through the threads. As she wove row upon row of beads, a picture began to appear before our eyes and I was hooked. Weaving would forever be something that enchanted me.

There is something comforting about the simple repetition involved in weaving a thread through a loom. Back and forth, back and forth, over and under, over and under. Each new thread tucked against the others begins to make a pattern. Even if I miss a thread here or there and mess up a little it still comes out looking lovely.

You will need:

  • Your cardboard loom
  • several long thin pieces of nature
  • a bit of coloured yarn
  • scissors
  • a stick a little longer than your loom
  • some string to tie your stick to your weaving
  • First I wandered around my yard and collected some long, thin things I thought would look pretty in my weaving.
  • I also brought some yarn and string with me into the backyard.
  • Then I got to work….
    Over under over under
    LOTS of times
  • I carefully snipped the bottom strings and tied them in knots to take it off my loom.
  • All done and even got it off my loom!
    My daughter, the artist, says it’s very pretty so I must have done well.
    What does yours look like?

To the grownup:

If you are needing more details instructions there is a beautiful (slow to load) post by the marvelous Jean at the Artful Parent. And for really great instructions about how to get your weaving off the loom and onto a stick you can hang on your wall head on over to Babyccino for how to get your project off the loom and add a stick so you can hang it on the wall.

If you look closely at my “finished product” you’ll see I didn’t actually tie the stick to my weaving I just stuck it through the loops. I also used masking tape to “hang” it. Still looks pretty. I might finish it one day….maybe….

Woven Butterfly

A beautiful simple project that builds the skill and awareness of wrapping and weaving. This was originally posted by The Craft Train.

You will need

  • 1 Pipe cleaner
  • 2 Popsicle sticks
  • 3 Beads
  • 2 colours of yarn

Step 1 Wind yarn around popsicle sticks to make colourful wings. Use a little bit of glue when you get to the end to keep the string from unwinding. Ask a grownup to help you tuck it in an make it stick.

Step 2 Then take a pipe cleaner and twist it around the middle for the body.        

Step 3 Take your biggest bead and put it through the two pieces at the top for the head. And the two smaller beads go at the bottom for the body.      

When you’re done you can tie a string to your butterfly and put your string on a stick to fly your butterfly all around your yard to help pollinate the plants.

I guess this doesn’t really fall into the category of process art per say…but I would say there isn’t a right or wrong way to do it. You can truly ‘weave’ the yarn around the popsicle sticks or just wrap it. The more materials you offer the more this becomes truly an invitation to create.

A dish of beads.

A pile of pipe cleaners.

A stack of popsicle sticks stuck together.

Many pieces of yarn.

And if your child ends up stringing beads onto pipe cleaners and yarn that’s ok! If they decide to wrap the pipe cleaner around the popsicle sticks, also ok. The purpose is the playful exploration of materials. The point is to experiment & practice to gain confidence and competence.

Pinecone Weaving

Did you find any pine cones on your treasure hunt?

Pine cones are tons of fun because they can be used to make A LOT of different things.

When I was a preschooler my sister and I used to make pine cones into birds with leaves and tree sap.
Pine cones can be pretty pokey. You have to hold them very gently so you don’t get poked!

Can you turn a pinecone into a Easter Egg?

What about a tree?

Maybe an animal?

Ask a grownup to tie a piece of yarn onto the stem of your pine cone and see if you can wrap the whole piece around it. You can use whatever colour of yarn you like.

To the grownups:

You can use a lot of different things to challenge your little one to wrap around a pine cone.
If yarn is really easy try rubber bands or pipe cleaners.

There are quite a few wrapping activities in these pages because wrapping is an important skill to build upon. Wrapping is a foundation to knot tying which is a foundation to den building and fort building.

If your child isn’t interested in this context there are many more opportunities to practice.

Wrapping a pipe cleaner around a stick makes a caterpillar 😉