10 Wonderful ways to weave

Build fine motor and hand-eye coordination with weaving in your classroom!

Weaving is such an excellent activity to try with preschoolers!  Weaving not only promotes fine motor skills, but helps children learn how to create patterns and work through problems they may encounter while weaving.  It can also be a beautiful way for children to express themselves artistically.  Today I’m sharing ten wonderful and simple ways to offer weaving opportunities to your children at home or in your classroom…

Selecting a Loom

Weaving can be done with very few materials and with little set up, making it the perfect activity for busy moms or teachers.  And yet, it can keep little hands busy for long stretches of time, something else that is quite appealing to both teachers and moms.  Let’s begin by talking about what tools you will need for weaving.  First you need something to act as a “loom” and you will also need ribbon, yarn, or some other type of long fabric to weave into your loom.  Looms can be made from items found around your home or classroom.  I’ll bet if you just take a look around, you will find that you already have a few perfect looms just waiting for little hands to start weaving.  The first type of loom I’d like to share with you was made from a simple plastic sink mat, found at the dollar store…

If you take a look around the dollar store, you may find a lot of inspiration for looms.  Here’s another simple idea from the dollar store: a loom crafted out of a plastic basket

Another unique idea for weaving came from this wooden dish drying rack

Using Recycled Materials

If you don’t want to purchase new materials to use as a loom, then simply look around your home for some inspiration.  Dig through your recyclables for materials that you can turn into a loom.  That is exactly what Play Create Explore did when she created her own loom out of a styrofoam produce tray.  You’ll noticed she included a cardboard loom in the picture too…

Casa Maria is well-known for upcycling materials and transforming them into beautiful works of art.  Here, she introduces us to a different type of weaving material, using just a simple cardboard square and nylon loops for weaving

You can also make your own homemade weaving loom out of popsicle sticks like Buggy and Buddy.  I think all of these small looms would be perfect to take along on a car ride…

Large Scale Looms

Since I’ve shared a few tabletop looms and hand held looms, I’d like to now turn your attention to some large scale looms.  Yes, weaving is a great way to build fine motor skills, but it can be a large motor activity, as well.  Remember how I told you to look around your home to find inspiration for looms?  Well, take a look at your banister on your stairs and tell me what you see.  A giant loom!  That is exactly what The Boy and Me saw when she came up with this brilliant rainbow weaving activity using scraps of all sorts

If you don’t have stairs in your home or classroom and are looking for another large scale loom, look no further than a table!  Simply flip a table upside down and encourage the children to weave in and around the table legs like we did here with our upside down, wacky weaving activy…

You can also turn a long hallway into a loom, simply by attaching your strings to the walls with tape or by tying the string around door knobs.  We turned our classroom into a large scale loom by wrapping crepe paper in and out of chairs and table legs.  Then we climbed over it and crawled through it!  Talk about so much fun…

Weaving Outdoors

And to wrap up our ten wonderful ways to weave, I’d like to encourage you to take your weaving outside.  Can you find a loom in your own backyard or on the playground?  How about a fence?  Can you create a loom out of sticks or a small stand of trees?  Babble Dabble Do created this beautiful natural loom out of a tree stump in her backyard…

Have you been inspired to weave?  Or do you have a great loom to share with us?  Share your ideas in the comments section below!

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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