Ask the Knitters

Dear Knitters,

My son's school hosts fields trips to the workplace of every family in Kindergarten. Kids visit the workplace of the mom or dad, or the parent comes to the classroom for a presentation if the workplace is dangerous/too far away/not great for five year olds. So soon, my son's entire class will be coming to my yarn shop for a visit. Hi there, it's me, Allison!

Do you have any ideas for what would make a cool shop visit for little ones? Perhaps a particular yarny craft since we don't have time to teach everyone to knit in an hour? If so, which one? Showing them how we ship packages? I know there are many teachers and parents out there who support my shop and I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think kids would love to see.

Thanks for your ideas! You always offer the best guidance.

-Working Mama

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Comments

[Jessica]

Wow, I would love to chaperone that trip! :)

I suggest some information about where yarn comes from / how it is made. Maybe even a short story about sheep? Or pictures of plants and animals that yarn comes from, then an example of that type of yarn (picture of a cotton plant, then show them a cotton yarn, picture of a Kashmir goat, show them a yarn with cashmere in it).

[Theresa]

No advice but gosh how cool is that?! Just think how you might inspire some young people to be interested in the fiber arts. I had very little exposure to knitting as a child but I know I would have loved to visit your shop !

[Bonney]

Make a "God's Eye" ornament with popsicle sticks and colored yarn. They're quick and easy.

[KRISTA]

I second both the book idea, there are lots of short picture books about yarn, and the God's eye craft. A lot of kids are just starting to get some fine motor skills and the simplicity of four sticks means even of they don't get it"right" they will have Good time. Just set up the sticks and get them started before handing them out. I suggest max two different colors or you'll have some kids spending their entire time deciding on colors.

[Ann]

Ever made pom poms with the two pieces of cardboard? Have the cardboard pieces cut out and ready and yarn cut to length and everybody makes a pom pom.

BTW, I taught my now 22 year old daughter how to do that last Christmas break. She found it very entertaining and spend the rest of her break making pom poms with all my scrap yarn and used them to decorate in her college apartment. Making pom poms is a good life skill. :)

[Jenna Sargent]

I second the pom pom suggestion. They're super fast and easy to make!

[Alice Faber]

Agreed on the pompoms. That was my first thought.

[Aimee]

I was also going to suggested some kind of pompom activity.

Or finger knitting, no extra tools needed other than their hand.

[Donna]

If you have roving, they could make little dolls by folding over a long strip, tying off a section for a head, then pulling a shorter piece of roving through for the arms, tying off hands. Place a tie around the waist, then divide the long “body” piece into 2 legs, then tying off feet. A piece of yarn can be placed on the roving before it’s folded over to make a hanger so they can be Christmas tree ornaments. Easy peasy & fast. They can add finishing touches at home.

[Karen machado]

Hi. I made a cute little wreath out of pom poms. I did most of them, and had the children make 2-4, today, in my after school art club. These were preschoolers and with my help to tie off knots, they did a super job! I used toilet paper and paper towel rolls, for them to roll their pom poms on. This works better than cardboard for them. If you have a nice sticky glue that they can use, it’s more hands on. However, we were pressed for time, so I hot glued them on the wreath, after they told me where they wanted their pom poms to go. I glued a ribbon hanger on the back, and a bow(with ribbons) on the front. I used oranges, yellows and grey and these colors made an adorable Halloween wreath, but you could do “turkey” colors with your sons’ class or red and white, for the holidays. Have fun and if they do a lot of it, they will be so happy. They love doing crafts, at this age. Thanks and enjoy!

[staci]

I think the pom-poms are a great idea. They could turn them into ornaments if they wanted. My daughter made a giant one for her school guidance counselor when she was 6. The counselor hands out the small ones to kids when she thinks they need some 'warm fuzzies'.

I asked my 12 year old son what he thought and he said he would have been more interested in the shipping - "Kids love boxes, even when they are 12."

[Sue]

The field trip I remember most from elementary school was, I kid you not, going to an envelope factory. We got to see the full process from big roll of paper coming in one door to finished product going out another. That said, I think the mail order process would be something tangible they could follow along from when an order comes in on the computer until the package goes out the door.

[Dianne Noe]

I taught kids to finger knit at my school. We did one finger knitting and all sorts of things can be done with this . Easy enough and fast enough to get at least a bracelet done. My kids liked bright colored yarn - anything smooth in a worsted weight works well...

[Becky]

My kids love watching yarn being wound - I'm sure they would enjoy seeing a swift and yarn winder at work.

Also, check out paper plate weaving. It's a cool woven i-cord that my daughter's Daisy troop learned at camp last year. They were able to get started at camp and take it home to finish.

[Alison]

Have some samples they can touch and you can talk about why they feel the way they do and which animals/plants they came from.
Yarn-wrapped rainbow? https://www.schooltimesnippets.com/2014/03/fine-motor-yarn-wrapped-rainbow.html

[deb]

Show a video re sheep/goats/LLamas/Alpacas and their lovely coats, and let them feel how sweet the yarn is, and then make a simple craft as suggested by others.