Woven Shapes
Use craft sticks and yarn to create colorful decorations to be hung and displayed.
Use craft sticks and yarn to create colorful decorations to be hung and displayed.
Ages/Grades
Preschool, Early Elementary
Learning Domains
Language, Fine Motor
Materials
Ready, Set, Create!
Place all of the materials out on your tray or work surface.
Cross two or more craft sticks to form an X, which will be used as the frame.
Cut a long piece of yarn and wrap it along the intersecting points of the stick to hold the sticks in place. For younger children, caregivers may wish to glue the sticks together ahead of time.
Hold the frame in one hand and wrap the yarn over and around the sticks with the other, creating a design.
Switch yarn colors and tie the new piece to one of the sticks.
Continue wrapping until you have reached the ends of the sticks or feel you are satisfied with the project.
Add feathers to your creation by pushing them in between some of the layers of yarn. You can also add beads to a piece of yarn and hang them or string them as well. (optional)
Hang your creation with a piece of yarn to display it!
Engage Children in Conversation
Comment on what you observe, such as “I noticed you’re wrapping red yarn around your sticks” or “What do you think will happen if you wrap your yarn around each stick more than once? Will your pattern change?”
Ask children open ended questions that encourage critical thinking, such as:
Which colors of yarn will you use to create your weaving? Why will you choose these colors?
Will you add beads or feathers to your weaving?
Which stick will you wrap first? Will you wrap each stick once or more than once?
For very young children, try asking “either/or” questions, such as “are you using the red or the yellow chenille stems?” “How many times did you wrap your sticks? Let’s count together.”
Extensions
Choose colors of yarn that go along with whatever unit you are teaching, or your child’s current interest. For instance, if it’s Winter, you may wish to offer white and blue yarns, along with sparkly beads, to create snowflake themed weavings. In Spring, you may wish to use bright colors, so your weavings look like Spring flowers.
Modifications
Children who have difficulty squeezing glue bottles can dip paint brushes into cups of glue or use glue sticks to adhere the materials to their paper.
For younger children, caregivers can glue the sticks together ahead of time. Children can also use chenille stems to wrap around the sticks instead of yarn, which may be easier for them to manipulate.
For very young children, offer them just one stick and show them how to wrap it with a chenille stem. To make it a bit trickier, offer them yarn and challenge them to wrap a stick with it.