Here is a picture of a little girl getting a head start on her braiding and sewing. This project the kindergarten has been doing for years and even my kids learned how to braid and use a very large needle to sew the braids into a basket. The oldest class (5 year olds) do this and while some children, like this sweety, really enjoy it and can make a couple of baskets, other kids absolutely can't get the hang of this and even a few days before the end of the year are still plugging away stabbing their fingers.The mothers are asked to buy three meters of fabric and those are cut into lengths (I think the mothers do that job too) and then the kids bring all the fabric to kindergarten and the teacher teaches them to braid by tying a first knot and then holding the fabric between their toes. Actually I taught the teacher how to add the next length and the next length of fabric (removing the need for sewing the strips together) by cutting a small slits in the end of the fabric, poking the next end through and then pulling the next strip through its slit. I wonder if they are still using this system...
Once this little girl finishes braiding all her lengths she'll start sewing around and around with a large needle until it resembles a basket and then will use the tail of the braid to make a handle. Pretty good huh? Some bloody fingers but I've never heard of any major injuries and all the kids (mine included) are very proud of their handwork!
7 comments:
don't remember learning to braid with three strands, but can still remember the fascination I ahd when someone showed me any uneven number of strands could be braided.... Don't do it often, but it is a useful skill...
I've never seen this very useful skill being taught in our kindergartens - probably someone 'up high' has said that it's too difficult for them so not to do it. They have to learn everything through play now, which is better than it was but we can never seem to hit a happy medium.
What an excellent way to encourage manual dexterity - do you have any pictures of the finished baskets?
I have made a lot of braided rugs from wool, but never baskets. I would like to see photos too, please.
This is really intriguing. I'd love to see how-to pictures as well!
This is so sweet, and it is good to know that someone somewhere is still learning these types of skills. I remember feeling very proud when I learned to braid (hair), even though I was never very good at it.
I loved the photo of the little girl braiding away with her toes holding the end of the braid!
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