Discover exciting opportunities to recycle your Christmas paper and expand the children's experiences of natural materials with this creative weaving project.
Adult-led activities
Paper weaving
Have fun with weaving leftover Christmas wrapping paper and streamers.
Key learning intentions
To talk about, recognise and recreate simple patterns
To handle tools and objects with increasing control?
Adult-child ratio 1:4
Resources
*Recycled Christmas wrapping paper *crepe paper *old streamers *large rectangular sheets of thick coloured card *ruler *pencil *scissors *examples of woven fabric such as sacking and loose weave cotton garments Preparation
* Put up a notice before Christmas asking parents to keep used and leftover wrapping paper and paper decorations for creative activities in the New Year.
* Draw parallel lines the width of a ruler along the length of each sheet of card. Draw a thick line 3cm from one of the short edges.
Activity content
* Look closely at some loose weave fabric samples, such as a piece of sacking, and talk about how the individual threads are woven in and out of each other. Introduce the words 'warp' and 'weft' and explain that 'warp'
goes from top to bottom and 'weft' weaves in and out. Suggest that the children try weaving some strips of paper.
* Ask each child to choose a piece of coloured card and demonstrate how to cut along the lines up to the thick line at the top. Help the children with this if necessary.
* Invite the children to choose pieces of recycled Christmas paper to cut into strips about 2cm thick.
* Demonstrate how to weave a strip of Christmas paper under and over the card strips, starting at the top of the cut edge of the sheet of card.
* Invite the children to do the same using recycled strips of their choice.
* Tape the loose edges of the strips together. Mount the finished pieces of weaving on a display or use them as personal place mats at snack time.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Weave, woven, fabric, warp, weft, pattern.
Questions to ask
* How did you manage to weave this pattern?
* Can you tell me what you did with the strips of paper?
Follow-up activities
* Sing 'Wind the bobbin up' (traditional) and talk about how the song originated. Introduce the words 'bobbin', 'shuttle' and 'loom'.
* Cut out some fish-shaped cards and attach foil strips across each one.
Weave contrasting foil strips in and out of them to give the appearance of shiny fish scales.
* Fix strips of ribbon across a pinboard in a trellis pattern and invite the children to use it as a message board by writing on small paper strips and weaving them in and out of the ribbon. Stand the board in different play areas to encourage writing for a purpose.
It's only natural
Organise an activity weaving with natural materials.
Key learning intentions
To investigate natural materials using all of their senses
To explore colour, texture, shape and form in three dimensions
Adult-child ratio 1:4
Resources
*Strong forked branches *natural materials suitable for weaving such as reeds, wild grasses, flowers and leaves with stalks, feathers, raffia, hessian *thick rough string *magnifying glasses
Preparation
* Invite parents to contribute suitable natural materials for weaving.
* Go for a walk together to search for branches and suitable natural materials.
* Cut the hessian into strips.
Activity content
* Give each child a hessian strip to handle and ask them to observe the way it is woven through a magnifying glass.
* Remind the children of previous weaving activities and show them the collection of branches and natural materials.
* Invite each child to choose a branch and help them to wind thick string between the separate forks to form a weaving frame.
* Suggest that they thread their choice of natural materials in and out of the string on the frame.
* Suspend the finished branches from the ceiling as mobiles or stick them in the ground or pots to form a three-dimensional display.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Branch, twig, grasses, reeds, frame, tie, thread.
Questions to ask
* All of the things you have used in your weaving are natural materials that have grown. Can you tell me where they came from?
* What does this piece of grass/feather/ twig feel like? Do they all feel the same? How are they different?
* Do the different things smell the same or different? How do they smell?
Follow-up activities
* Play the ring game 'In and out the dusty bluebells' (traditional) and make comparisons with the movements made when weaving.
* Tie string across hoops to give the appearance of spokes on wheels and invite the children to weave natural materials in and out of them. Hang the finished 'wheels' as mobiles alongside the children's branches.
Child-initiated learning
Encourage the children to develop their experiences of weaving to extend their learning in different play areas.
Outdoors
Additional resources
*Equipment suitable to use as large weaving frames, such as a clothes horse with parallel rows of string tied between the bars, or pieces of wooden trellis *strawberry or plant support netting *materials used in above activity *storage crates *string
Possible learning experiences
* Learning about the properties of natural materials.
* Learning about pattern.
* Developing fine motor skills.
The practitioner role
* Create weaving frames by tying the clothes horses, plastic netting and trellis pieces securely to fences or posts and encourage the children to try weaving the materials of their choice into them.
* Ask the children appropriate questions to help them to understand more about the properties of their chosen materials, for example, that flexible materials are more suitable for weaving.
Creative area
Additional resources
*Open boxes and food packaging trays with wool wound around or threaded through to form simple weaving frames *ribbons *strips of fabric *recycled Christmas paper and streamers
Possible learning experiences
* Building and constructing with a range of objects and materials.
* Weaving with greater confidence.
The practitioner role
* Show the children the weaving frames and then leave them to explore the materials freely.
* Talk to the children about their actions. Encourage them to make links with previous weaving activities.
Role-play
Additional resources
*Willow branches strapped together to form a tepee, or a plastic tent frame covered in plastic gardening netting *boxes of natural and recycled Christmas materials used for adult-led activities *cushions *home area domestic resources.
Possible learning experiences
* Working as part of a group, sharing and taking turns.
* Using imagination in design, role-play and stories.
The practitioner role
* Explain that you have started to create a secret den for the children to play in and invite them to finish your work by weaving lots of different things into the sides. Leave them to play freely.
* Return and join in the play to develop imaginative ideas and encourage made-up stories.
