Weaving for kids is such a fun and effective craft activity. It’s great for fine motor skills, looks fantastic when completed and uses materials most people will already have at home. Today Shannon from Oh Creative Day is showing us how to do a simple weaving project for kids with a gorgeous result!

Weaving with children is one of my very favourite creative projects. This simple weaving project is a great way to introduce children to weaving and shows you how to make your own loom out of 2 craft cupboard staples.

How to set up a simple weaving for kids

You will need:

• Craft sticks
• Washi tape
• Rubber bands
• Fabric scraps 
• Pipe cleaners 
• Beads
• Super glue or hot glue gun (to be used by an adult.)

How to:

1. Decorate 4 craft sticks by wrapping them in washi tape.
2. Create a square with your craft sticks and glue into place with super glue or a hot glue gun. This step is best completed by an adult.
3. Once the glue has dried, slide rubber bands over both ends of the square. We could fit 5 bands over our square. You could fit more but it is a good idea to ensure that the bands are an equal distance apart.
4. Present an assortment of fabric scraps and materials that could be woven through the loom. This is a great excuse to raid the craft cupboard and to clear it out of random items. You could use pipe cleaners, yarn, feathers.
5. I modeled the simple technique of “over then under” to my almost-5-year-old. You start with your fabric and first go over the rubber band, then under the next rubber band and so on.
6. Once your weave is complete, trim excess fabric away. You may be able to tie fabric in place around the edge of your loom. You could dot glue under the fabric to secure it to the edge of your loom. I simply trimmed the fabric away and everything stayed in place.
7. If you wish to hang your weaving, wrap a pipe cleaner around the top of your loom. You could thread beads onto the pipe cleaner. So much fine motor practice with this project!

Interested in more weaving projects for kids? I once ran a lunch time weaving club at school for my students. You can find the projects that we tackled here.

More ideas using craft sticks

• Make a mini banjo using a recycled lid and craft sticks
• Use craft sticks to create a fairy castle with mini craft stick fairies
• Craft sticks are used here to create a “loom” for woven yarn butterflies

Shannon

Writer at Oh Creative Day | Website

Shannon is a mum and a teacher who believes that reading and creative outlets are as important as breathing. She harbours the desire to be a published picture book author. But first she needs to figure out what's on for dinner. Shannon blogs at Oh Creative Day where she celebrates her perfectly imperfect attempts to live a creative life. AKA trying to remain sane whilst raising 3 kids under 4. She has an unhealthy addiction to Instagram, coffee and pom poms and is vehemently opposed to glitter. According to her husband, she cannot pack the dishwasher properly. Like, ever.