Yarn Wrapped Crafts for Children

This simple craft promotes development of fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, focus, and encourages children to finish tasks or activities. 

It also gives the child a sensory experience, just feeling the softness of yarn, which is 

therapeutic.

Just draw some shapes such as Easter eggs, spring shapes such as butterflies, flowers, bees, rabbits etc on the cardboard. You can choose any topics. At the button of this article watch the video. It shows step by step instructions on how to prepare, present this activity to the child.  

Materials you will are:

Cardboard

Yarn or ribbons

Pair of Scissors

Pencil to draw the shapes

Needle

Start by drawing shapes on the cardboard, if this activity is for a two years old child then make sure that you draw the shape large enough for the child to hold it when working with it.

Once you have drawn the desired shapes, cut little slits around the edge of the shapes. This will hold the yarn when wrapping it, especially around the curves. 

If you are drawing a large heart, draw a second heart in the large heart, leaving about two centimetres (or one inch) gap. I normally leave about two fingers gap.

Next cut the heart and then from the centre of the cardboard heart again cut around the
second heart. This will make a large hole for the child to use his/hers hands for wrapping the yarn.

Next cut the yarn or if using ribbons then cut only 70 centimetres (27 inches) long. Not
too long as it becomes too difficult and confusing for the young child to wrap.

Once you have cut the shapes, the yarn and ribbons, have it ready for the child as in
the video.

First show the child how to wrap the yarn, once the child is ready then handover. It could be that after a couple of rounds the child might get tired and stop. Then ask the child whether he/she would like to stop. If the child says yes then ask the child to put away the activity and finish it later or continue next day.

Let the child practice wrapping as young children like to repeat to master their skills. 

                                             Video: Yarn Wrapped Crafts for Children

Video: Weaving Activities for Children - for fine motor skills and dexterity