Francis J. Degnan
OBJECTIVE
Students will be able to produce a woven hanging.
ACTIVITY
Weaving is a demanding task. To understand what is today done automatically by machine, material should be unraveled to show the patterning; burlap, denim, or any remnant may be used. Questions may be asked about the threads that make the material. Where do they come from? How are they made? What could they be made of? Ask if any mothers make their own clothes? Lead the conversation to an appreciation of what the colonists must have done. Then explain what they are to do.
PROCEDURE
On a precut piece of cardboard 18x24 that has a slit every 1/2 inch along the top and bottom make a warp. That is, thread colored yarn of the child’s choice through the slits that are opposite one another on the top and bottom. Now the child can weave yarn, fabric or ribbon in and out of the warp. If possible, it would be worthwhile to have him incorporate some material or item that he has brought from home. When one side is completed the extra yarn at the ends may be connected to a stick or branch and hung.