If you know Gus, then you know he loves yarn and handcrafts. He got a giant roll of yarn for Christmas and I don’t think he could be happier. Recently, he was home distance learning and I was looking for some work that would compliment his learning from his Montessori school. We don’t have everything here for him to work on and I don’t think it’s super necessary for us to reproduce classroom work in the home. But, extension work can be a fun way to reinforce concepts introduced at school. This yarn shape activity was a great way to do that.
So I took Gus’ love of yarn and decided to combine with some of the shape learning he’s been doing at school to make a fun, easy art project. It was a great way to reinforce some shape learning, challenge some of his measuring skills, and a nice fine motor activity.
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To do this activity we gathered a few simple things:
- Yarn
- Scissors
- Glue
- Shapes - we used shapes from the traditional Montessori geometric cabinet, but this could be done with other shapes too. It would work well with Montessori metal insets, more traditional stencils, or even free forming the shapes.
First, I had Gus pick and name a shape then trace it on to a piece of paper. Then, he took the roll of yarn and needed to measure and clip the yard to the right length. With the more complicated shapes the yarn sizes needed to change to meet the edges of the shape. For a younger child a simpler shape might work, or if an adult pre-cut strips of yarn.
Then, he glued the yarn in place until the shape was complete. The blue yarn with the blue shape made for a nice touch and a nice little collection of fuzzy shapes. Even Nora eventually got into the shape making fun!
Do your kids enjoy simple extensions for school work?
