What you need:
- plastic berry basket
- cereal box
- plastic beverage carrier
- egg cartons
- paper-towel tube
- plastic soda bottle
- child scissors
- assorted colors of thick and medium yarn
- masking tape
What to do:
- Collect a variety of recyclable items that your child can weave yarn through or around, such as a berry basket, paper-towel tube, plastic beverage carrier, egg carton, and plastic bottle. Another idea: Help your child cut the top off a cereal box and make deep cuts every inch or so along the edge.
- Make a point on a piece of yarn by wrapping a strip of tape around one end. Then let your child weave the yarn through the holes in the berry basket, around the holes in the beverage carrier, around the cardboard tube, or in and out of the slits in the cereal box. Use different colors of yarn, and talk about the interesting designs she makes.
- Tape the end of a piece of yarn to the egg carton or bottle to start the winding action. Hold the item while your child winds and overlaps the yarn around it in colorful patterns. Discuss whether the yarn slides more on one surface than another. Why does she think that is?
- Work together to weave the separate pieces together with yarn to create a magnificent weaving sculpture.
Learning benefits:
- builds fine-motor skills (wrist movement, pincer grasp)
- enhances problem-solving skills
- encourages creativity
