Crafting can keep my two children entertained for hours. I admit that most of the time their crafting consists of easy things like colouring, cutting and sticking which they can help themselves to and doesn’t take a lot of effort to set up or tidy away! Sometimes though, it is nice to get a more involved craft going on.
Since they were small, Twin 1 & 2 have been very interested in whatever I am sewing and have been keen to have a go themselves. We have done lots of simple threading together as well as weaving, embroidery and sewing with felt. I thought I would include a couple of the threading projects we have done. They are very easy to do with minimal set up (always a bonus for me!) and are ideal for introducing sewing to toddlers and preschoolers.
Leaf Shapes
The first sewing project I tried with Twin 1 & 2 was using leaf shapes cut from cardboard. Using a hole punch (a single one is much easier to use) I punched holes around the outside of the leaf, threaded a blunt needle with some wool and knotted it to the first hole for them. They can then ‘sew’ around the outside of the leaf in and out of the holes with a running stitch, criss-cross across the leaf….whatever they feel like doing! I made my leaves out of cereal boxes which made them quite robust. There are loads of great ideas for projects like this on Pinterest, try searching for ‘leaf threading’ or ‘leaf lacing’.
Paper Plates
I cut shapes out of the centre of paper plates and using my hole punch (a single hole punch is again so handy for this) punched holes around the shape. For this project I numbered the holes to add a bit of numeracy into the mix. Using wool on a large blunt needle I attached the wool to the first hole for them with some tape. They can then follow the numbers around the shape. If they run out of wool part way through you can just knot another piece of wool on and re-thread the needle. As before, there are some fantastic ideas for projects on Pinterest.
Great starting point
These kind of threading projects are perfect for helping with fine motor skills and for getting children used to holding a needle and the action of going down through a hole and back up again. Both projects can easily be adapted for different times of the year (spider webs for Halloween, hearts for Valentines Day etc) and children could decorate the shapes and plates before starting the threading.
Top Tips
I prefer using blunt metal needles with children. They are more robust than plastic needles and have a smaller eye which makes it easier for pulling through fabrics like binca and linen (look out for a future blog post on these fabrics). Look for blunt tapestry needles or ‘wool needles’ sold for sewing up knitted items – any large blunt needle will do. I have found that even young children manage really well with these kind of needles.
The most common frustrations for my children are getting knots and the thread coming off the needle. To help combat knots, cut a shorter length of wool or thread….you will have to change it more often, but it is less likely to get knotted when it isn’t so long. To help with them losing the thread off their needle you can double up the wool and knot together at the bottom or (I prefer this method for projects like this) you can tie the thread to the eye of the needle and just snip it off when they are finished sewing.
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