Teaching Kids to Knit this week

I'm teaching a group of K-2nd graders to knit this Thursday and Friday am and thought I'd share what I'm doing.

First off, I like to start out with saying that I did not come up with the wonderful ideas I'm sharing. A very talented friend put this course together and taught it last year.

DAY ONE

The class will start with the children decorating small canvas tote backs with fabric paint and gems so they have a project bag to take home.

For needles, I purchased 1/4" dowels and cut them down to a 9" length. I then ran one end in the pencil sharpener to get a point (not a sharp point) and sanded the dowels a bit so they won't snag the yarn. And, just to make sure they are smooth, I rubbed lanolin on them. When I checked needle size, I come up with a 10.5, which is a great size needle for little hands.

For the needle ends, I have a friend who does a lot of polymer clay jewelry, hair clips, kitchen utensils and much more, that let myself and the friend mentioned earlier, come and "play" with her scraps, and we made the coolest needle ends. The kids will get to choose a set and then have me glue them onto their needles. I've got pictures of them here.

Now, it's time to learn to knit. We have hand-outs for the children that have diagrams and poems. Using Lambs Pride Bulky, the children are going to practice casting on at least 4-5 times.

The poem we are using for the slipknot goes like this: Make a circle so the rabbit can get in, Pull it closed or he'll run back to his kin.

The poem for actually casting-on:

Under the bridge, Over the moat, Jump back down the crocodiles throat.
Then it's time to practice knitting.

The poem we are using is:

Go in your front door, And grab your scarf, then take it outside, before the cat barfs. (yes, barfs. I had two cats for over 16 years and can really relate to this one) We have two other poems to choose from, which are:

In though the front door, Once around the back, Peek through the window, Off jumps Jack;

Under the fence, Catch the Sheep, Back we come, Off we leap.


DAY TWO


On Friday, we'll be working on knitting either a head band, a case for a Game boy or a small pouch. Basically, knitting in garter stitch a rectangular piece that can be seamed up to make whatever the child decides they'd like. I'll have some knitted examples for them to get ideas from.

I've also checked out a few stories to read to the children that have knitting as a central theme.


I'll do a post later on how this all goes. It went smoothly for my friend and I'm hope it goes that way for me.