A New StoryWalk

"Taan's Moons" by Alison Gear was created on Haida Gwaii,

the most western part of Canada.

The book was given to families entering kindergarten last fall.

All the pictures were created with the children in kindergarten and grade 1 

on Haida Gwaii with artist Kiki van der Heiden.

The pictures in the book were created by using a method of wet felting.

Since we were doing this in a limited time I decided

to try needle felting with the families.

I thought long about how to keep this a safe activity and found 

a multi-needle that has a safe guard.

We started by pulling the roving apart and laying it on a piece of felt.

Next the children took turns needling it.  This will be the background of our picture.

Then we went outside to read the book.

This was our evening session so we had older siblings that could help with the reading.

The book is about Taan, which in the Haida language means bear,

and how he sees a year go by.

As we read the book each child picked a colour of wool.

Back in school we started to create our picture.

First we started with brown to make Taan.

Then I asked the children what should Taan be seeing or doing

and they decided they wanted a rainbow.

They placed the wool in the order they wanted their colours 

then we took turns needling it.

One child took a strong interest in this project

and needled most of the rainbow.

Then her little sister helped add clouds.

For our first time trying needle felting I think it turned out really well.

Wet Felting

               
This year I learned a new technique for wet felting using a ziplock bag.
          
You need wool roving, ziplock bag (we used a large bag), dish soap and water. 
Gently pull the roving apart in small pieces and layer it in your ziplock bag. 
Do several layers changing the direction you lay the roving for each layer. 
This will be the background of your piece.
          
Next I had the children choose the colour of roving they each wanted to
use and had them pull a piece apart and place it on the background
colour. 
 
In the pictures above I had them dip their piece of roving in water first,
I won’t do that again as it proved to be unnecessary.
                
Once all the pieces are in the bag, spray it all with water and squirt some
dish soap in the bag.  Seal it and then let the children rub and rub and rub.

Flip it over and keep on rubbing.  Pass it around and let everyone have a turn.
 
As you rub, the agitation, the soap and water helps the wool felt together.  Be
sure you rub the edges too otherwise you’ll be able to pull it apart when you
take it out.
      
As an adult it took me about 15 minutes of constant rubbing to finish the
felting project.  So it may take all day with children helping depending on
their interest. 
To test if it is finished, open the bag and gently tug on the wool.  If it
doesn’t pull apart then it is done but if it does then close bag again and
keep rubbing.
When you think it is finished take it out of the bag and gently rinse it
under running water then lay flat to dry.
    
This is the only photo I have of the the big group project
(framed on the wall in the top left corner of photo).

A Glimpse at our Valentines Day

 

                                 Light Table

 
                                 Sensory Bin

 
                               Wet Felting

 
                              Friendship Salad

       
                                 Card Writing

 
                                  Spritz Art

    
                 Hope you had a lovely day.

Wet Felted Eggs

We tried wet felting for the first time at StrongStart.

I took a workshop last fall and really enjoyed it.

Then I found this blog that makes it real easy to do with little children.

We made felt eggs.

Unfortunately the little containers I bought did not seal tight

so we had to wrap them in paper towel.

This little guy will show you how to make them.

 Pick your felt and put it in the container

that is about half full of soapy water.

(You do not need much soap)

 Put the lid on tight.

 Shake, shake, shake some more.

This was the perfect time to talk about directions.

Shake it up and down, back and forth, side to side.

And then you have your egg.

At the other end of the craft table we made these little nests for our eggs.

 Start with shredded wheat.

And break it into little pieces.

Add glue and mix together and shape into a ball.

We used our thumb to press an indent into the middle.

Just the right size for our egg to sit in.

I wasn't sure how this activity would go but the children and the grown ups

really enjoyed it.

 It drew children in that normally didn't do crafts.

This little boy really liked making the eggs

but wasn't interested in making a nest.