| ================= Kids-n-Weaving ================= § Originally posted on the Internet "weaving" list- Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 From: "H Bischoff" <hbischof@ta... Subject: school weaving curriculum I do a school sponsored, after-school weaving club twice weekly for 4th-5th graders that has proven to be very popular. One reason, perhaps, is that the kids are mostly from low socioeconomic backgrounds, which means they have very little in the way of extracurricular activities. They LOVE to weave. We have about 50 kids enrolled, with 25-30 attending faithfully each session. All newcomers start out with cardboard looms, which we cut in many shapes/sizes from donated scrap mat board from a framing shop. The kids measure and cut slits every 1/4" in each end to hold the warp - good math activity. On these looms, they make bracelets, bookmarks, "pockets," purses, pencil cases, stuffable dolls, snowmen, etc. They include flaps on the pouches and pockets to fold over and close with a button and button loop. Sewing on buttons turned out to be a very useful skill that very few of the kids knew how to do. The kids then learn to do kumi himo braids, again using cardboard looms, also very popular. Right now, the most popular project is purses - increasingly elaborate using many fibers, colors, shapes, sizes. Usually with matching inkle straps, often with fringes and beads. The kids seem to "piggy back" off the creative efforts of the others since each one seems to be a little nicer than the last. Another favorite cardboard loom project is making rather adorable little people - these flat "dolls" take advantage of the natural draw-in of the loom to create skirt-shapes or bell-bottom pants, use up many donated scraps of interesting yarn, and are topped with "hair" of many interesting fibers. The lower warp ends are used to attach pony beads for legs/feet; small shells are also good for feet. Arms are kumi-himo braids laid into the warp. Seed beads make good facial features. Even though these kids are young, they are remarkably patient with these projects, and often choose hair/skin/clothing colors to match their own. They like the sewing part. After they master cardboard weaving, they move to inkle looms. Another student helps them warp their first project, teaching them to select and follow a pattern from the book. We begged and borrowed a lot of inkle looms, many of which were two-sided, homemade ones which are harder to warp. I am gradually replacing them with one-sided inkles. Most of those are Schact (did I spell that right?) because that's the only brand Dick Blick art supply sells and I can combine orders with our art teacher to qualify for a substantial school discount. I wish I had the time to make enough inkles to get rid of the two-sided ones. Anyway, I also bought our warp and needles for the cardboard looms from Dick Blick because of the discount. We learned the hard way to use a different color heddle for each different type of inkle loom, e.g. red for all the homemade, blue for the Schact, etc. Lost heddles/mixed up heddles, found heddles were all a big headache the first year, when we made all of them white. A dot on the post of the loom where the heddle belongs the same color as the correct heddle has saved us a lot of trouble this year. We had a grant the first year we had the weaving club, and it's a good thing I stocked up on warp then - more luck than brains. When I do run out of warp, I'll have to come up with a fund raiser since, it turns out, warp is rarely donated. Sometimes I find yarn at thrift shops for a small price, but most of what we use is donated (and we use a LOT, with so many kids involved!) Thankfully, virtually all of our other materials are donations. I learned to sort the donated material by color without regard to fiber type, thickness, etc. This works best for two reasons: the kids always know what color they want, so they can find it themselves. And, more importantly, they can always put things away in the right place when color is the only criteria. They quickly learn to select the type of fiber appropriate for their project. Most of the kids move naturally and happily from cardboard weaving to tapestry weaving. We have some ingeniously made tapestry looms that were donated, also a few old wooden frame looms and four rigid heddle looms. Our local weaving guild has also loaned two free-standing tapestry looms. It's interesting to see how some kids absolutely love tapestry weaving while others have no patience whatsoever for it. The kids like to make bags out of their rigid heddle cloth, often weaving a matching inkle band for a strap. Finally, we have four 4-shaft looms, all about 24" wide operated with hand levers. One I bought with the grant, one with my own funds. Two others are on loan from a local guild member. The kids do the math and select colors to plan the warps and wind and chain them on warping boards. Winding the warps on the beam becomes a communal activity - fun to watch and to participate in. We have a lot of manpower, and everyone wants to help, so... we get a child to hold a one-inch width of warp in each hand while it is being wound on, and that child is responsible for maintaining the tension and making sure it goes on smoothly. The warp we put on today is 17 inches wide, which meant 8 kids were "holding the reins." Another kid makes sure the loom stays on the table, two more watch the lease sticks to make sure everything is passing there smoothly. One more winds the beam while another (usually an adult) keeps the cardboard/wallpaper winding smoothly. The only problem today occurred when I said "David, let go" wanting him to release a warp bundle I was combing out. I forgot that two Davids were helping. The wrong one let go... :-) The kids invented their own system to thread the looms. One handles the cross/selects the next thread, one selects and pushes out heddles, one inserts the hook and pulls the thread through. With this method, they make remarkably few errors since each can focus on just one task. We had some basket weaving materials donated, so we branched out before Christmas into making little woven reindeer. The kids enjoyed that very much, so we will probably make some small Easter baskets, too. To make this manageable, I cut several science boards in half to make a set of stations showing each step of the process. When the kids worked, they put their work on a piece of cloth so they could easily slide it along the floor to the next station. We also used the same boards to create more reindeer via an assembly-line process with each child responsible for only one step. So, they learned about mass production, too. A favorite activity is going to younger grades where they get the kids doing kumi himo and/or cardboard weaving, one child teaching another. We use safety pins instead of needles for the little kids, both for safety and because I'm always short of needles. You can pinch the safety pin with pliers so it can't be opened if you're worried about the little ones getting stuck. Kumi himo ordering (one,two, three...) is a valid math activity for first graders. You can use multiplication facts on your kumi himo cardboard instead of numbering to get some more math in for the third graders. The kids also have access to the Internet, where they have found a lot of information and examples of weaving. They also delight in spotting books where weaving is mentioned. I mention this only because, rather than totally planning your curriculum, you might consider setting up guidelines/rubrics and having your high school students do the research. I have created a couple of I-movies of the inkle weaving process, and intended to do more, but the editing is very time consuming for me. Better to let the kids learn the software and do the instructional videos themselves, I think. Even my 5th graders know how to create PowerPoint/Keynote presentations. I just haven't had the class time to offer them the opportunity to research and create presentations of weaving processes and weaving from other cultures. Probably after the state-mandated testing is over... sigh. Well, this is too long but I think I'll send it to the list anyway since there may be others out there who would like to get similar projects going in local schools. Schools are very much tuned into recent brain research which indicates the value of exercises that require cross-body motions and motor skill development. Such exercises actually improve reading ability! Weaving is so much more fun than the prescribed exercises such as the "Brain Gym" activities our school uses, and it accomplishes the same thing. I could never have accomplished any of this without the help of some of my local guild members; I did not know what an inkle or cardboard loom was when we started, and had no idea whatsoever how to deal with a 4 shaft loom! Susan Bischoff, NBCT Bradenton, FL |
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| (The kids invented their own system to thread the looms...) |
| (Weaving is so much more fun than the prescribed exercises such as the "Brain Gym" activities our school uses...) |
