# What would you suggest.......



## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

.... as a beginner project/craft to teach a 5 year old so she can "make something beautiful for my [_her_] mommy"? (for Yule/Christmas)

We tried crochet today, and I don't think she has the fine motor skills yet. Plus her attention span, while better than a lot of younguns I've seen lately, isn't going to be very long.

I was thinking of a simple lap loom of some descript and a basic weaving. What say you?

(Background: I've known this little girl since she was a baby and have recently agreed to watch her after kindergarten for a couple hours until her daddy gets home from work on the three days a week her mom works. She was _fascinated_ today when she saw me crocheting a washcloth and when she asked me what I was doing it for, I told her it was for a friend. She'd never known you could _make_ something like that! So, she got her first crochet lesson today, making a chain. Her hands are so tiny, though.)

At any rate, anything you gals can think of as a Project for Little Folks in the fiber arena would be appreciated. I'd really like to catch her while the idea's new and fun - maybe it'll be enough to keep her interested in crafts when she grows up a bit.


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## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

hhm - not sure - with a little loom she could weave a little dressing table cloth?

Or how about French knitting - she could work away at a strip and then roll it into a drinks coaster?

Or could she learn to swiss darn? And personalise something for her mum?

hoggie


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

If you've got access to the wool...felting! She could felt a bar of nice scented soap, and even make a pattern in the colors of the wool. Either a nice soap to use, or one to use as a sachet in a drawer.

Also, she could make a drawing, cover it with clear plastic, and use it as a template to make a felted picture for her mum to hang ont he wall...if her mum is into that sort of stuff.

She could also make felt beads, and you could help her string them into a necklace.

I've taught kids to do simple felting, and they usually love it! And since it doesn't take fine finger control, they can usually produce what they are trying for.

Nice of you to start this kid down the right path!  You enabler, you! Catch 'em young, train 'em right!


Edited to add...of course you have access to wool...you have us! If you need some for this kid, drop me a pm.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I love the felting idea!

Do you make soap, Falcon?? If not, I'd gladly donate a few bars. PM me if you want to do this

Here is a great tutorial on felting soap


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## Katherine in KY (May 11, 2002)

How about weaving potholders on a metal potholder loom? You use loops over the pegs so no fancy warping involved.


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## PollySC (Jan 17, 2006)

All great ideas and so good of you to help a little one. I'll add the way we (my sisters and I) learned to work with yarn. We made great long ropes of chain stitch using our fingers. Start the chain, then the little hand can reach through the loop and pull a new loop. It takes some adult help to assemble, but the chains can be stitched together with a big dull needle into almost anything. We made placemats, coasters, tote bags ...


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

There's a neat book out called Kid's Weaving ... maybe your library has similar? In the felting line, braided roving then coiled could make hot pads, drink coasters, doll house rugs.

But definitely check out your library for craft books ... ornaments made from natural things, cards.

Maybe knitting would be easier - I think crochet's motion is more complicated, but I'm not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer either.


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

All really great ideas. I knew I'd asked the right people .

To address them:

*Hoggie, though they sound lovely, I have no idea what French knitting or Swiss darning are. Knitting, yes (although I don't) and darning, yes (although I avoid ), but .....

*Meg, I love the idea of a felted something! I already have wool in all sorts of (natural) colors and probably could dye some white in wacked out colors if need (Tabby loves bubblegum pink and is convinced the rest of the world loves it, too *shudders*).

*Nope, Cyndi, soap-making is one old skill I've never learned. I ordered up a 5 gallon bucket of lard for winter usage and was kinda thinking some of it could be diverted to learning........ We'll see. I'm a bit reticent, I guess, for having no 'teacher' present to catch my screw-ups before they become calamities!

*Katherine, I have a bag of pot holder loops in the stash (dunno how or why they're there, mind you) so would only need the little loom - not a difficult thing to find or make.

*Polly, tried the hand loop approach and she promptly grabbed a hook (she wanted to use a D!  ). 

*Liese, I find knitting to be one of the most singularly aggravating, frustrating, time-wasting, annoying crafts ever invented by man. Did I mention I don't like knitting? Technically, I know how but don't ask me to show you . 

Actually, I've been thinking of checking out the "Knit 4 Kids" dvd and try it. Everyone raves that it puts knitting in a fun and easier to learn format. I even have a pair of largish bamboo needles just waiting to be used.

Ok, so that leaves me with several really nice ideas to choose from with a bit more thought. Oooooh, maybe I can get my friend's (_slightly_ older, 7 & 9, I _think_) daughters together and have "craft days" with an eye towards Yule. Ah, hell's bells, why not just petition the school to let me come into Art class and teach felting - the owner of the Gallery (where I showed my stuff last year) is the Art teacher there.

_........ tottering off now in search of more caffeine and an anti-histamine. Already sneezing, slept like doodle, and spilt tea all over the desk/keyboard......._


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## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

LOL falcon

this is French knitting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_knitting

swiss darning - you take a piece of knitting and using a needle and wool, you stitch a design into the knitting in such a way that the thread follows the knitting stitches if you see what I mean. The end result looks as though the design is part of the knitting? For those that knit, it can be a useful way of adding a design after you have finished the item - and for those that want to mend it needs to be done when the garment is thinning - too late once you hvae a hole LOL

I am not sure that makes any sense but I am struggling to explain here LOL

Good luck with the project anyway - I am sure you will find something lovely for her to make 

hoggie


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Hoggie, I think what you are describing is known to some as duplicate stitch.

Falcon, I commiserate with you about tea all over the key board. lol By the way, I guess you're kinda lukewarm about knitting eh?


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

At least this time, it didn't totally fry the keyboard! The other one (my favorite, of course) got so soaked - although it was the kitten, not me, that spilt tea that time - that only the i, l, and comma keys work now .

Thanks, hoggie. I knew there was some sort of easy explanation.

And no, knitting just doesn't do much for me, Liese. How astute of you to notice.


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## mommahen2four (Mar 22, 2008)

OK - I'm a little late chiming in here, but it caught my attention because I have little girls and was hoping for some good ideas too! Here's my thoughts: My 5 yr old can crochet on a mushroom with help. She makes beaded bracelets, necklaces, belts... I can't crochet or knit, but we can do this together. And, we've felted soap together and they used the leftover fiber (I only had a tiny bit to begin with) to wet felt shapes using cookie cutters and then put a magnet on the back. Grandma loves her handfelted butterfly and flower magnets!!!


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Tabby (the little girl in question) said yesterday she wanted and intended to make sweaters for her mommy and daddy . While I don't want to discourage her, I told her I thought maybe something a bit smaller might be better for right now. She tinkered with her chain for a few minutes and then completely frogged it! (It was nearly two feet long.) It's time to move on, I think, to something different.

I found a _little_ stash of different colored batt ends this weekend when I was searching for colored cotton for dishcloths. So it looks like felted _something_ is the Project for Little Ones . I like the magnet idea - I'm pretty sure I have magnets around here somewhere - but I also like the felted soap idea a lot.


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## missourimelodie (Feb 12, 2008)

Wow, I can't imagine teaching a 5 yr old to crochet. I have a girls 15, 11, and 8. The younger ones love weaving hot pads from yarn or fabric strips. They just use a stiff piece of cardboard with notches cut across from each other on either side. We have also made "stained glass" windows to hang out of black constuction paper for frames and torn colored tissue paper glued to a thin base paper. We are some crafting maniacs. I think the magnets mentioned would be just right for little hands.


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## sewsilly (May 16, 2004)

Potholders on the old fashioned metal looms... Most five year olds can do the weaving part, and a few particularly dextrous ones can bind it off. Mine have loved it.

5 is too young to start a lot of needle arts, from a standpoint of development. Frustration will be the result that will often hang on till much later in life.

dawn


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## sewsilly (May 16, 2004)

oh, my child said, "remember when we were little and we made lots of tiny little wreathes of the grape vines for everyone's Christmas presents.... I do...

We made ornament sized wreathes with little red bows and jingle bells... A fun afternoon at the grape arbor, 'pruning' vines which work up well while green.

dawn


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## Slev (Nov 29, 2003)

ummm, I'm sorry but I think 5 might be too young to put kids into a sweatshop type situation. LOL I'm trying to remember when I was 5 and all I come up with is sitting on the toilet backwards for a really long time and playing with some minature animals on the tank top, until I did my business. In kindergarden we took oranges and a black marker and made little jack-o-lanterns to give to the other kids in my class. :dance:


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

That's why I think the suggestion for felted soap (or felted anything, really) might be one of the best, Slev. It'd be fun and productive at the same time.


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## redbudlane (Jul 5, 2006)

mommahen2four, how do you use the cookie cutters to felt?


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## mommahen2four (Mar 22, 2008)

Using the type of cutter that just cuts the outline and is totally open on the top, I had each kid pick their shape and used a deep plate/shallow wide bowl to work on. They place the fiber in the shape in layers, alternating directions, until it's full. I drizzled a little dish soap over it, then drizzled a little hot (not too hot though) water over it and let the kids squish it around in the shape, working loose fiber until it's all flattened out. If there were any thin spots, they'd add another little piece and work it in. I'd help them flip it every so often, and I did help work the edges a bit for my 5yr old just to make sure it was successful. When it was looking just about done, they added some white swirls for fun (we just used natural fiber - no colors). When it was done, I helped them rinse in nice cold water to lock it all together good. I think if we did more than one each, they probably could have done the next one completely independantly, but since none of us had ever done any kind of felting before we were all learning together. It really is simple enough for a five yr old to do herself after learning!


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## redbudlane (Jul 5, 2006)

Thanks so much for sharing, this sounds awesome! I can't wait to try this. I'm thinking Christmas ornaments for gifts would be fun.


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