Simple Weaving with Young Children

Judith Baines

Two very simple looms can provide hours of interest and result in attractive little gifts such as coaster mats or bookmarks. Here are two ways to go about it.

1. Any clean and disinfected polystyrene food tray can be used. Thread a large-eyed needle with thick cotton or string and prick holes along the lips of the shorter sides. Then stitch warp threads as shown in the picture. Provide the youngest children with several thicknesses of various threads that they can weave over and under the warp with their fingers, leaving big loops at each end as they turn. This stops them pulling too tightly and creating the familiar “waisting” of the work and also allows the resulting mat to be neatly trimmed along the lip of the long sides of the tray. The weaving needs to be reasonably compacted before it is really finished, so make sure the criss-crossed threads are close and even. Then just break the tray away and trim the loops that are left, and you have a fringed mat.

2. This method uses a piece of strong card or mounting board. Cut quite sharp zigzags down the opposite edges, then wind a warp thread round the cut points, to and fro across the card. These little looms can be made any size. You can fill them with multiple thread weaving, to give them substance and an interesting texture. For this you simply need to thread several different kinds and colours of yarn through a bodkin or big-eyed chenille needle.

First experiences of weaving can be depressing for children when only a single thread is used, for the work is slow and children seldom progress beyond the first inch or so. These very simple looms seldom fail, for the work grows very quickly and children have the fun of choosing mixed threads of all kinds, noticing the different colour and texture of natural threads such as wools and cottons combined with man-made threads such as ribbons, raffias, string, etc.