Weaving is a great way for preschool kids to practice fine motor skills, and this activity uses recycled ribbon and a common household item: a wire shelf.
It’s a good thing I’m {a little bit of} a pack rat because I found this old wire shelf in my storage building during spring break. Over the years, I’ve almost gotten rid of it several times. When I found it recently, I knew this would be just perfect for weaving.
When I was setting this up in the classroom, I was thinking to myself: They won’t be able to do this. They won’t understand how to go up and down while moving to the next hole. They’ll go down the same one they went up. Or, if they are able to do it, they’ll get the ribbon all twisted.
Well, I was wrong. They weave beautifully. Never underestimate a four-year-old!
Luckily, I did not have to buy any ribbon. Some of this ribbon came from a scrap bag I purchased years ago. Some of this ribbon I had saved from gifts I received. See, I told you I’m a pack rat.
If you have an old wire shelf and some leftover ribbon, be sure to add this to your preschool classroom. The kids love it, and it will be great work for fine motor skills and coordination.
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I have 2 of those things! I swore I’d use them to cool cookies on! Yeah Right! They still have the package paper on them. Cool idea…I’m glad you shared it, I can put those things to use for real:)
Hey, those are old fashioned scissor racks. What a great idea. Maybe take a photo or have them draw how theirs looked when they were done. If there is a photo book, other friends can try and replicate each other’s patterns with the ribbons!
That is an awesome idea! I have one of those little shelves too. It is stashed away in a cupboard at school. I am going to have to put this out on the shelf soon. I’ll blog about it and link back to you! THANKS!
This is a really cool idea!
A wonderful weaving idea. I’m always looking for new ideas for repurposing and reusing items. This is a great one. (Although cooling cookies on it is great too….)
I really like this idea. Thank’s for sharing.
Donna 🙂 🙂
I agree, never underestimate the power of a child! They’re always full of surprises!
We appear to have very similar philosophies on children and learning. I think you might enjoy this post:
http://waddleeahchaa.com/2010/05/05/using-pattern-blocks-to-pose-a-math-investigation/
Your thoughts were wrong, but you still put the work out! Like a few years ago I gave my son a small orange to peel I thought to myself “he won’t be able to do it” but I still gave it to him (and he proved me wrong). I tried weaving with my son but it really wasn’t fun, this looks way better (shame I’m no a pack rat rat teacher :P, maybe I could use some sort of baking/cooling rack)
ps I just stuck up a post linking back to your “cherry pie” mat, just checking that’s ok to do?
Love this idea! Going to set it up now!
My blog: http://maryannfkohl.typepad.com/blog/
I just posted an idea on my blog showing some wild and crazy “room weaving”, which your bloggers might enjoy. And I just LOVE this weaving idea on the wire shelf … it really helps kids who are beyond making “tangles”. I’ve done fence weaving and wire-grid weaving with kids too, all successes. Weaving is one of those ideas that can take off in so many directions. Thank you for posting yours with such great pictures.
MaryAnn F. Kohl, art author
I don’t know if you are familiar with my work, but I’ve written 20+ books about art for kids, and I’m just to happy when someone is bringing art to children in their lives or classrooms.
Maryann, I know your work!! I’ve seen a couple of your books and they are full of great ideas. 🙂
Earlier this year I found one of those wire shelves in my cabinet, and set it out with some ribbons. My students not only took to weaving on the shelf, but they also decided to decorate many objects in the room with ribbon. It was a lot of fun!
Today a friend gave me a huge box of scrap ribbons. All colors, lengths, thicknesses, and textures. I can think of so many fun things to do with these ribbons, and I think fence weaving will be one of them! I wonder, though, will fence weaving on our school’s old chain link fence make the ribbons all yucky and dirty? Should we do that after we’ve sorted, counted, etc? Would love to hear some experiences!
Wow! I was going to order a loom (just last night) the cost was $30.00! Thanks for sharing this great idea! I am so glad I waited!
Great way to introduce the concept of weaving! : )