April 20, 2011

Weaving Tips - 4th Grade


I love weaving with my students!  Over the years, I've discovered a few things that make the project better/easier for the students. Here are two that I use with the 4th grade weaving project.
Hair picks make wonderful rakes for the yarn!  It really helps to pack the yarn in tightly to get a great looking weave!  I had made some at one point with cardboard, but they just weren't cutting it.   I was able to get them at the dollar store for super cheap! 

When students are pulling their weft string through, they tend to pull a bit too tightly & hourglass their weaving.  This, of coarse, is undesirable.  So, when they are ready to pull the string through...I have them take their pencil and press it down in the "loop" to prevent it from pulling inward.  This seems to work really well for most students.  Though you will always have those that don't follow directions!?!?!

4 comments:

  1. I am still so glad you weave with your kids! And yes those are very good tips. I am going to try weaving on hula hoops today with my own kids....we'll see! My loom is a jungle gym for a 2 year old, she hangs on the front bar and swings!

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  2. I have tried to get them to stop the hour glass in other ways, but this may work a lot better! Thanks for the tip!!

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  3. hello !
    I'd be interested in trying weaving in my class next year and found your "cardboard" idea was great ! Do you know a website or a book where I could find informations on how to make them ?
    Thanks a lot for your answer

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  4. I have to ask, what is your process at the end of the weaving? How do you remove the weaving in a desirable way? I like to try and save the cardboard looms (just like the ones you have) so I was wondering if you had any insight on how you completed the weaving.

    I have my students fill the entire loom and remove the weaving; then fold it in half and sew up the side and bottom or both sides to create a sort of pouch. They love this because it holds many items including their phone or mp3 player. My students do weavings in 5th grade.

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