wrap a rainbow

Here is another fun project from our spring week of rainbows...yarn wrapped-rainbows!The set up was a bowl full of balls of yarn, scissors, and pre-notched up pieces of cardboard cut from a box we had hanging around the classroom.

 

I teach 3s and my 3s are on the younger side so this project was one that many of them needed a little guidance with. Some of the children only needed a little help showing them what the notched were for while others found that holding the cardboard and wrapping was a bit too twisty for their little hands so I held the cardboard for them as they cut their yarn, slipped it into a notch, and wrapped itaround and around and around. They were so proud of their finished rainbows!

The children used all sorts of fine and even some large motor skills for this project. Fine motor for scissors work, holding the cardboard and wrapping the yarn near the end of their strands; large motor for the beginning wrapping as the kiddos may have cut very long lengths of yarn so the wrapping became a whole-body event. They used sequencing/ordering skills along with color recognition as they wrapped their yarn in rainbow order. Pretty cool!

july 4th: last minute patriotic flair three ways

Need and activity to keep the kiddos busy? Make friendship bracelets! You can go the usual route and use red, white, and blue embroidery floss but I like to use variegated yarn. One, because you only need to purchase one ball of yarn, and two, because yarn is a little bit easier for little hands to hold on to.

This red, white, and blue ball of yarn is made of all cotton fiber. If you do not have one handy or your local shops are not open you can make your own ball using a couple of sharpies, white yarn, and a craft stick, like this.

To create this lumpy bumpy bracelet I knotted three strands of yarn around one strand using the basic friendship knot. Click here for a video demo I made a few years ago.

This bracelet uses the same basic knot. To make it knot one strand of yarn around the other two and switch to use the next color. The way my yarn was dyed I had to use three separate strands to create the blocked red, white, and blue look.

The final bracelet also uses three strands but instead of knotting them up I braided them. A safety pin is a great tool to add tension to the yarn as you knot and/or braid. You can pin it to your pant leg or a pillow.

Have a Happy Fourth, get crafty and stay safe! For more 4th of July fun, click here!

adventures with ander and zaza: an impromptu pom pom factory

This past week ander and zaza came for a visit. I had made a pom pom wreath for the 4th of July and zaza asked how I made all those pom poms. Out came the yarn and scissors and the next thing I knew we were in pom pom city. It was pom making all the time. There were pom poms here, and pom poms there, here a pom, there a pom...you get the picture. It was also a complete blast! Here are some things we learned...

 

 

Pom pom making with younger folks is really easy even without a pom maker (it's also easily portable). I demonstrated the HANDmade technique maybe two or three times and the children were off and running. We had to make a special trip to the craft store to bulk up on lovely yarny goodness.

The most difficult part seems to be tying the yarn around the center of the pom-to-be tight enough so that the snipped yarny bits don't slip away. The color choosing and wrapping went by lickety split.  We began by wrapping up our little pom packages until we had a happy pile and then we went to trimming them. The little packages were just as pretty as the poms themselves.

If your child is having trouble wrapping around their hand, they can use a tp tube, piece of cardboard, and/or a wooden spoon or spatula. We tried most of them and learned that a too tight wrap didn't exactly like to slide off the utensil it was hugging. Oh, and for a smaller pom, use two fingers for wrapping instead of four.

 

We also learned that if you wrapped three or four colors around at the same time, your pom-to-be bulked up quicker and displayed a lovely confetti effect. Even more so if one of the yarns was variegated. It was also a lot easier to wrap directly from the skein of yarn. The kitchen floor was covered in happy skeins and sometimes they got tangled but they tangled up a lot less than if we cut out yards of yarn before wrapping.

 

 

First timers can trim their poms just a little, creating a shaggy bit of pom happy. As your kiddo gets more practice and used to the trimming aspect of pom pom making, they can snip away to create a trim ball of happy. Fabric scissors work best and yes, they do look alarmingly long when in the hands of a kiddo. Our mantra to the kiddos as they got all snip happy was to think of their pom as a bonsai tree. Snip just a little at first and trim as you go. Their first round of poms were happy shaggy bits but as they became pom pom masters they trimmed them up tight. I think they even went back to their first poms and trimmed those down as well.

 

There is a lot of yarn waste when making pom poms. Use a large tray or plate to catch all the bits that fall. We saved the trimmings in big plastic bags for a future project. There are a few ideas and maybe they will get made, we'll see.

Not sure what we are going to do with all the poms but we did discover that berry baskets make excellent pom pom vessels.

Earth Day: yarn wrapped can planters

Using a variegated yarn makes it easier for your kiddo to continue wrapping. Switching it up to a chunkier yarn will make it even easier for your younger kiddos. A wooden clothespin makes a great anchor to hold your yarn in place and if you plan on planting something that is not already in a tiny pot with holes, make sure to punch holes in the bottom of your can using a hammer and nail or cover the bottom of your can with small pebbles to keep the roots from drowning. Succulents and cacti are perfect for cans as they need very little watering.

Homemade Holidays: make a mini yarn garland

 Happy December friends! Here's a nifty, easy (with a wee bit of wait time involved) garland project that can be adapted for any holiday. This year, I am using it for Christmas but change the color of the yarn and it can become a New Year's, Valentine's Day, Halloween or Hanukkah garland as well. Your kiddos will enjoy making this as it involves that delightfully messy and sticky stuff we know as glue. Tink kiddos will fully immerse themselves into the goo but your older kiddos can have a go at working those fine motor skills as they wrap that yarn around something smaller than a balloon. Don;t forget to cover your surfaces, this can get messy.

Materials:

*5 or more plastic eggs that open

*yarn

*scissors

*plastic wrap

*wax paper

*white glue or mod podge

*sequins, buttons, happy beads or old costume jewelry bits

*4 or more mini ornaments (optional)

 Lay a sheet of wax paper over your work surface area and have your kiddos separate those eggs.

 Hand your kiddo a pair of (kiddo safe) scissors and let them cut up the yarn into a series of smallish lengths 3"-8" inches. This does not have to be exact. One long length (about 10") is enough for one evenly wrapped egg half but we're giving this project to our kiddos to do so they may prefer working with smaller lengths. Dump the yarn bits into a shallow dish with a healthy amount of white glue or mod podge and allow to soak in.

 

Wrap each egg half with a bit of plastic wrap, tucking the ends and edges up into the egg cavity. You can tape into place if you like but if you get a good bunch of wrap tucked under, it should remain in place as it sticks all over itself.

To begin wrapping, your kiddo(s) can pick up one piece of yarn with one hand while using the thumb and pointer finger of the other to squeeze excess glue out. Plop the sticky strand atop a plastic covered egg half and wrap around. Repeat with more yarn until satisfied. your kiddo can do an even wrap if they are older and more in control of their motor skills or they can do a wonky, squigglely wrap. The nifty thing is that the egg halves are so small, they won;t need a lot of yarn to cover.

Continue until all egg halves are covered and set aside to dry over night. The damp sponge is there for your kiddos to wipe excess sticky from their fingers as they work. I used the smaller, more round halves of my plastic eggs but you and your kiddos can use either/or or both. If you do not have eggs, try using an upside down egg carton covered in wrap or small round bottomed cups.

 

 

When dry, remove plastic and yarn from egg half. It should easily be separated from the egg. Next, and I suggest you do t his part, gently hold the yarn magic in one hand while pulling away the plastic wrap with the other. If there are dried blobby bits of glue, you can use your scissors to trim a little.

 

 

Hand your kiddo a bottle of tacky or craft glue and a small assortment of buttons and baubles and have them glue one happy bit into the cup of the yarn (like a nest...ooh...use brown yarn and make a spring bird and nest garland. I think I will do that!) They can of course glue more than one happy bit or if they are of the age where the baubles and bits may end up in their nose instead, let them shake a bit of glitter on top and set aside to dry.

Once everything is dry it is time to assemble garland. Cut a long length of yarn at least six feet and thread your yarn cups on. If you like you can alternate with a pretty ornament in between. I made a separate mini ornament garland and looped them up together when I hung them. Once you get the first cup on, double loop and knot one end of the yarn to anchor it in place. The first cup will be the one to keep the rest from slipping right off. To keep the whole shebang from crashing into each other, loop the yarn through each happy bit twice kind of like a running stitch, over, under and over again and on into the next one. If the yarn is too sloopy, use a small square of tape to pinch off and taper the end.

 

Once you are finished, loop and knot your ends for ease of hanging and find a nifty place to showcase. Have fun and I'm here if you have any questions!

knots and string and friends and things

Back in the 80s I was a summer camp counselor at the Los Angeles Zoo. We taught the kids all about the environment and how everything is connected. We taught them about all the odd animals that at the time people weren't super familiar with like meerkats and cassowaries. With all the zoo learning we also managed to throw in songs, fun and games. One of my favorite projects (since I never got to go to camp as a kid) was making friendship bracelets. So easy to make and quite addicting. I think I enjoyed making them more than the kids!

Since the 80s are back (again) and handicrafts are also back, let's make some friendship bracelets a la dilly-do! I've tweaked this tutorial only slightly so that smaller tots and can knot away. All you need is a good fat yarn!

Materials
*chunky yarn, a variegated color is perfect
*large safety pin
*scissors

You will need three strands of yarn to make this simple bracelet. Two of the strands will be long enough to tie around your wee one's wrist with an inch or two extra to make tying easier. The third piece will be two and a half to three times longer. Cut your strings.Knot them together at one end and poke your safety pin through the knot. Attach the safety pin to your wee one's pant leg or the back of the sofa. Wherever it will be easier for your tot to work. You will want to attach it to something stable as it makes it easier and aids in providing tension to that your kidlet can make the knots without too much trouble. To make this friendship bracelet, you will need to learn is one knot and only one knot. It is really super easy once you get the hang of it, but kinda hard to show you without me being there but I'll try. To start, grasp the two strands of equal length in one hand and pull them taught towards your tot so that they are perpendicular to your tot's belly, like a line pointing up and down.The remaining strand of yarn (the long one) is going to be the single string you knot over and over again to create the bracelet. To begin, single the string at a diagonal away from the up and down string. You can angle it to either side, depending on how it feels in your tot's hands to wrap (right handed vs. left handed). From the diagonal line, about three or four inches out, bend the string so that it heads towards to other two. This will look like a pointed number four or backwards four if you're me.Next, push the tail of the long string (the one that crosses over the other two) UNDER the other two strands at a diagonal that almost crosses the first diagonal. Look at all the pictures I hope they help. If they don't, I made a video as well.Now that you have the weird four shape and two strands of yarn pointing at your tot (or you) and one extra long string out, over then under the whole mess, you are ready for the knot. To make the knot, grasp thee two shorter strands in one hand and pull taut towards your body. With the ither hand, grasp the looped, longer thread and pull up away from your body. You will then have a little not somewhere up near the top of the whole shebang. Continue with the process...make the number four, weave over under and then pull. When you get the hang of it, your knots will form quickly and create a neat twisty pattern that spirals around the two base strands. When you have enough bracelet to go around the wrist, stop making knots and tie of the whole thing. If you're feeling creative you can go for a loop top by looping the yarn into a noose-shape and then tying the other strands around it. If you want to go more traditional, you tie the bracelet onto your friend's wrist and hope it lasts forever! Happy kotting!