Weave a spider's web for a spooky Fall craft...

Sample spider web weaving craft above.

       Little ones can learn simple weaving skills with this Halloween spider craft. Teachers may choose to offer any number of Fall color combinations as far as craft supplies are concerned. As you can see by my samples. I've also shown here a variety of wooden craft stick sizes for the project.

Supply List:

• Popsicle sticks or coffee stirrers
• white, black, or orange yarn
• black, white or orange acrylic paint
• plastic spider (sold in bulk at dollar stores, optional)
• white school glue
• paint brush 
• sheet of sandpaper
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Make sure that the wooden surfaces of your craft sticks are clean. If these have any residue from prior use, because the sticks may be recycled, clean them up with a small piece of sandpaper.
2. Use white school glue to stack the craft sticks on top of each other in the shape of spokes on a wheel or like "stars." 
3. Let the glue between the layers dry thoroughly so that the webs formed by the layering become sturdy. 
4. Paint these shapes solid Fall colors: black, orange and white. Let dry
5. Now young students may weave the yarn about the wooden craft sticks to make their spiders's webs. 
6. The teacher may use a hot glue gun to paste a inexpensive plastic spider in the center of each child's web.
   

Left, are the "star like" shapes or spokes of a wheel formed by stacking wooden craft sticks and gluing them as you go. Right, I have painted each sample in the colors of Halloween: black, orange and white.

• Weave Indian Corn for Autumn Fun
• Weave trees for painted paper plate landscapes
• Weave a paper dress for a paper portrait

Weave Some Yarn Trees!

Use a fast drying paint for the first half of this art assignment so that the paper plates will not warp.

        This weaving project is accomplished in two parts. Above is the first part of the assignment. Teachers review or teach for the first time what a landscape is in art. Then students paint their own version of a landscape using acrylic or tempera paints, whichever is available in their classroom, on the inside of a paper plate. Make sure they include a foreground and a background. Above you can see that there is a nice variety of landscapes represented by these students: a green park-like setting, a couple of deserts including cactus and a glimmering lake with a rainbow above it. Below a student painted a lush green and blue mountain landscape with a white fluffy cloud hovering above.

The worp of the tree branches is strung around the notches above and tied off at the bottom.

       For the second half of this art lesson, students will need yarn and scissors to notch the edges of their paper plate. These notches do not need to be exactly placed. In fact if the notches are a bit off, the result can be quite charming. Wrap the worf of the tree in and out of the notches as shown above.
 

The simple process of wrapping a yarn tree trunk.

       At the bottom of the plate, where there are only two notches, students will need to wrap a smaller length of yarn to form the trunk of their tree. they should make this trunk approximately one to two inches in length.

 A colorful assortment of woven trees from these second and third grade students.

        Next, student weavers may pull yarn lengths in and out of the worp forming what is called the weft of the weave. They may choose to make a striped pattern to represent the leaves of their trees if they wish. All in all this makes quite a striking art exercise when completed!

Part 1 of the weaving project from Cassie Stephens. 

This is a snow scene.

More Woven Trees:

• Weaving trees in Cassie Stephens classroom
• Fall art tree weave from Mrs. Brian Miller
• An apple paper plate weave from Stef

Weave Indian Corn for Autumn Fun!

An example of woven Indian corn.

      This craft project for fall is a classic. It is both simple and fitting for any classroom teacher's October theme. I suggest that it is best taught to 3rd graders. You will need to cut a large corn shaped pattern and cut across the width of the shape with narrow slashes. Do not cut through the end pieces of the cob's shape. You are going to be tucking the narrow strips of paper into the shape as you are weaving. Alternate at least three Autumn colors of paper as you go. I chose to include tan, yellow, and pale orange, but you could use many other color combinations. Teachers may wish to purchase several lovely ears of Indian corn to display in the classroom so that students can make comparisons between their own color selections and those found in nature. 

• For the corn cob you will only be weaving strips in one direction by the same method shown in the video below. 
• The cob shape will be slashed down the length of it's center only but not all the way to it's end. 
• As students weave these paper strips they may also use masking tape on the backside of the cob to keep the woven strips in place. 
• The backside of the cob will be glued to green or tan leaves and the tape will not be seen in any case. This little step helps young students to manipulate the woven craft to greater satisfaction.
•  When your woven Indian corn is finished, simply snip off the ruff edges to create an polished looking project. 
• Then glue on a few green leaves to frame the cob nicely.

      I've included a video below to show the simple technique of paper weaving, for those of you who may not have attempted to teach it before. In this video, the technique demonstrates weaving done with strips only. This makes the craft a bit more difficult. Perhaps students of 4th grade classrooms could complete it best.

When making a woven mat as part of a kids' art project, a large piece of cardboard is needed as the background. Make a woven mat with tips from an art teacher in this free video on art for kids.

Expert: Pauline Stannard
Bio: Pauline Stannard has over 20 years of teaching experience and runs art workshops for children.
Filmmaker: Kathy Stannard 

Weaving Projects During the Holidays:

• Weave a Giant Shamrock to Hang in The Classroom 
• Weaving a giant heart for Valentine's Day
• Weave an Easter Basket Scene

 

Weave a Paper Dress

      Art teachers are always looking for new ideas for teaching this standard paper weave project. This is because many states require a weave technique be taught to young students several times before they graduate from elementary school. Paper weaving is, of course, very inexpensive for teachers to teach. Above you can see my teacher's sample of the process.

       This year, I viewed these examples of paper weaving in a local elementary art exhibit and thought them to be unique interpretations of an old paper weaving requirement. A child's perspective on life is both charming and refreshing when given just a bit of liberty. I particularly love the teddy bear version below.

More Related Content:

• Weave Indian Corn for Autumn Fun! A fun fall project for first, second and third graders
• Weave a Spider's web for a Spooky Fall Craft
• Weave Some Yarn Trees 

A child's interpretation of a little girl wearing a woven paper dress.

        

This woven paper dress is worn by a teddy bear!

Noyeokgae

"The process of cording and weaving hanji (Korean handmade paper) by a master weaver, Na Seo Hwan. He is a 3rd-generation master who learned from his father, who learned from his grandfather. He has also developed a more effective and efficient way of cording paper, which is different from the way most paper weavers work. This ancient paper craft, known formally as noyeokgae, still exists in Korea today but the intense labor, time, and strength required for it means that very few masters remain, and even fewer serious disciples."

Special thanks to my teacher, Na Seo Hwan.

Thanks to the U.S. Fulbright program for the time and funding to make this research possible.

Camera and editing by Aimee Lee

© 2009

The Pleated Christmas Heart

      Pleated Christmas hearts (Danish: Julehjerte) are a Danish and north German Christmas tree ornament.

      The exact age and origin of the tradition of making paper hearts is unknown, but the oldest known pleated Christmas hearts were made by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen in 1860. However, as Andersen's heart has no handle, it seems unlikely it could have been used as a Christmas tree ornament. That pleated heart is today located in the Hans Christian Andersen House in the city of Odense in Denmark. We know, however, that Andersen did make decorations for Christmas trees, and that the predecessors of the pleated Christmas hearts were made from wicker baskets.

      The oldest known guide to making pleated Christmas hearts is found in the Official Nordic handicraft Journal from 1871, and the oldest pleated Christmas heart (from 1873) is preserved at the National Museum in Copenhagen. But it was still some 40 years before the pleated Christmas hearts became more widespread.

      It is believed that kindergartens from around 1910 started spreading the use of the pleated Christmas hearts which were made from glossy paper in order to enhance the children's creative abilities, patience and fine motor skills.

      The first pleated Christmas book, called Julehjerter, was released by the Lottrup Knudsen brothers in 1975.

      A more recent book, which includes a big variety of pleated Christmas heart templates, is Francis Jordt's Flettede julehjerter.

Woven Christmas Hearts:

• Making a Woven Christmas Heart
• December 6th
• Patterns from PaperMatrix