Toddlers and preschoolers can make their own weavings with materials you already have at home! Practice fine motor skills and create lasting artwork.
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*Kat’s World gave us the great idea for the loom!
How To: The Artwork
Supplies:
- Cardboard pieces (You can also just cut up a cardboard box)
- Scissors
- Yarn
Art supplies
Directions:
Ahead of time, cut notches in all four sides of the cardboard piece. I did about six notches on each side, about 1 inch apart. The notches I cut were about ½ inch long each. Have the kids help you wrap the yarn around the cardboard, pulling it through each notch. Then, “weave” feathers, fabrics, ribbon, etc. through the yarn to make weavings!
Feel free to attach a piece of yarn or ribbon on the back of the weaving. This will make it easy to hang the weaving up for display.
How To: The Program
My Young Artists class allows 2-5 year olds to explore and create art. Exploring famous artists and their work introduces kids to art history and basic art techniques. Plus, exploring art allows kids to build self esteem, express creativity, and practice fine motor skills.
Group Activity:
For our group project, I taped a large piece of white paper to the floor. I put out washi tape and a bunch of stickers I had and then let the kids get to work. They spent 20 minutes sticking the tape and stickers to the paper, and I think they would’ve gone longer, but we had weavings to make!
The kids love stickers!
Group Story:
I couldn’t find a picture book about weavings that was age-appropriate for the two year olds that attend the class, so I showed the kids pictures of different weavings. I told the kids a few things about weaving:
- Sometimes they look like blankets or rugs.
- They’re often made out of yarn, which is kind of like string.
- Weavers choose whatever colors and patterns they like.
- A weaving is a piece of art – just like a painting is a piece of art.
The kids were really interested in hearing about weaving! (There was also some talk about garbage trucks, but I don’t know where that came from!)
Individual Art:
Finally, I explained the project to them and they got started! A six year old sibling was able to put the string through the cardboard notches all by himself! The four and five year olds did it with some help, but the two and three year olds were more interested in the feathers than putting the string through the notches.
Everybody loved actually weaving the objects onto their boards though!
And they turned out amazing!
I’d love to hear your paint-free art project ideas!
