There's a craze that has hit my house for the third time over the last couple of years. A craze that captives my children and leaves them busily working for hours at a time in deep concentration! That craze is finger knitting! Finger knitting is the process of weaving together yarn to make long rope like strands using a number of fingers. I'm not going to pretend like I'm some finger knitting expert by any means, because that definitely falls to my children.
This time it's Gus' turn to be completely obsessed with finger knitting. He will sit and finger knit any ball of yarn that he can get his hands on. And it will literally go on for hours. One morning he sat and finger knit for 3 hours straight. I couldn't believe it. He then tied all his strands together to make a long rope which he used to create an obstacle course in my living room.
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Gus and Nora both learned to finger knit around age 4 and quickly picked it up. Henry learned sometime in lower elementary and also loves it. And to be clear, a love of finger knitting isn't just limited to preschool aged children. Even in Henry's upper elementary classroom (grades 4-6) there's currently a finger knitting craze as the children are trying to beat the school's record for longest finger knitting chain at over 500 feet!
I personally love finger knitting because it is great at working finger muscles and for getting children to concentrate. For younger children they are very into the process of finger knitting and less into what they are making. As children get older, they may be more interested in making something from their finger knitting. You can get some ideas and inspiration from this book with cute projects or here. Plus, it's just super easy to set up. All you need is little balls of yarn in a basket on the shelf and the kids do the rest.
If you would like to teach your children to finger knit, there are lots of tutorials on youtube. My children have learned in school and brought it home, so I can't pretend to know how to teach you!
Do your children enjoy finger knitting?
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