How to teach your kids to weave

Weaving is a great fine motor skill activity for the kids. Did you know, you can make a loom out of cardboard and get the kids looming today?

How to teach your kids to weave

What you’ll need:

cardboard
wool
plastic needle
scissors
ruler
masking tape

Method:

Cut a piece of cardboard 6 inches by 8 inches.
Take your ruler and lay it across the top of your piece of cardboard, about 1/2 inch from the top. Draw a straight line with a pencil. Now measure in 1” and make a mark. Continue on and make 12 hash marks about 3/8 inches apart all across the top.
Cut the lines you’ve marked, stopping at your 1/2 inch ruled line.
Repeat at the bottom.
Cut out 2 strips of cardboard 1/2 wide and 6 inches long.
Glue on the strips of cardboard so that the top of the strip aligns with the 1/2 inch ruler line.
Cut 12 pieces of wool and thread through a top and bottom slit, making sure to leave a tail of about 3” on the back. Tape these ends to the back with masking tape. Make sure the threads are fairly tight. You are ready to weave .
Cut a piece of wool approximately 2 feet long and thread it on the plastic needle.
Thread your wool under the first thread and then over the next, alternating all the way along. Pull through, leaving a small tail to tie off onto the first thread.
Go back the other way creating the next line of weaving but do the opposite under and over.
Repeat until your wool has finished.
Gently push the weaving up to make it tight.
Repeat with your next chosen colour (leaving a tail to tie it off).
When you have filled the cardboard, carefully slide your wool loom threads off the cardboard.
At the bottom and top knot your loom wool together, two at a time.
Use sticky tape to tape loose ends to the back of the weaving.
To attach your weaving to a stick, thread and loop wool around stick and join it to the weaving.
Loop a weaving handle to hang the weaving up. You can add beads and pom poms if you wish.

I love these and they’d make great presents for the kids to give.

Have you ever done weaving with your kids? Please add comment below.

Images sourced: Pinterest

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21 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 01 Jul 2021
    8:50 am
This was so much fun when I was a kid. Back in those days I would be given old jumpers that had holes in so that I could pull them apart and reuse the wool.

- - mom81879 said
  - 28 Nov 2019
    5:31 pm
So cool! So great for the kids. An idea for school holiday activity, maybe make a couple as gifts

- - mom94125 said
  - 01 Sep 2016
    7:52 pm
this will be a great activity to try on the holidays. this will be a new skill for all of us

- - Melissa89 said
  - 29 Jul 2016
    11:29 am
This is gorgeous! Such a lovely decoration afterwards

- - rosiejayne said
  - 21 Jul 2016
    3:21 pm
Looks like a great one to try this weekend!

- - hopefullyheidi said
  - 30 Jun 2016
    11:33 am
A great low cost idea for the school holidays and to get rid of wool scraps

- - ella12 said
  - 22 Jun 2016
    4:53 pm
That looks amazing, thanks for sharing.

- - mom71820 said
  - 22 Jun 2016
    12:41 pm
Great idea! These are the simple things I use to love doing as a child.

- - rovermum said
  - 22 Jun 2016
    10:36 am
This is absolutely a great activity for fine motor skills. I recall weaving at school. It’s not something we did at home, but primary school was great for these kinds of activities. Unfortunately, I don’t think these types of activities are part of the curriculum anymore. That’s sad.

- - mom101628 said
  - 22 Jun 2016
    12:08 am
Used to do this with all my children – they loved it and both boys and girls still are capable of a lot of sewing and craft today.

- - rachelvk said
  - 22 May 2016
    10:42 am
Another activity to add to my list of things to do with my little one to keep him occupied!

- - Nas01 said
  - 22 May 2016
    10:06 am
What a great idea to keep kids occupied.

- - sharna_booth_weinrowski said
  - 22 May 2016
    8:51 am
I am definitely doing this with my daughter! She loves being creative!

- - mom183717 said
  - 22 May 2016
    7:55 am
I haven’t done weaving with my kids as so little but I will be doing that I will enjoy it too!

- - mum4107 said
  - 22 May 2016
    5:33 am
No I never have. Think my daughter is too little at the moment but certainly something we can do later. Thank you

- - mom93821 said
  - 21 May 2016
    9:12 pm
Weaving is simply wonderful and kids love it! Thanks for sharing weaving with everyone.

- - mom160421 said
  - 21 May 2016
    8:27 pm
I’ve never tried weaving. It looks easy and fun.
- mom93821 replied
  
  22 May 2016 , 7:25 am
  It is easy and super fun! Give it a go.
- - mom81879 said
  - 21 May 2016
    5:39 pm
Wow, easy, simple, not much to set it up. Awesome activity for the kids. And the finished product looks amazing. Love it!

- - mom90758 said
  - 21 May 2016
    4:32 pm
This really looks amazing! No, I’ve never done weaving with my daughter, but it look like a lot of fun!!

- - mom112217 said
  - 21 May 2016
    3:10 pm
I was taught this as a child in craft lessons,a fantastic idea!