I love when you can get a little bit of extra learning into craft projects, making these pretty woven star decorations would be a great activity to talk about, mathematics, geometry and patterns with older children.
This activity is great for ages 7+. I have tried making them with younger children but they found it quite tricky to follow the intricate patterns.
We made these pretty stars at Christmas time and they looked beautiful hanging from our Christmas tree.
MATERIALS:
- Thick cardboard
- Mixture of different coloured yarns and fine cords
- Scissors
HOW TO:
Cut out circle shapes from thick cardboard, we used cardboard from the back of an old sketch pad. Our circles were 12cm in diameter. Then cut slots around the edges at equal distances. We tried stars with 8, 12 and 16 slots.
Begin by trapping the cord in the top slot of your disc. Bring the cord down to the opposite slot at the bottom and trap in the slot. Now take your cord up the back of your disc to the next slot on the right at the top.
Bring the cord to the opposite slot and continue the pattern always moving to the right and bringing the cord across to the opposite slot.
Continue until you have filled all the slots.
If you turn the disc over at this point, you will notice that only half of the star pattern has been created on the back.
To complete the star on the back, turn the disc back over to the original side and repeat the same wrapping process until every slot has 2 strands of cord.
When you turn the disc over now, you will have a completed star pattern on the back. Tie the ends of the cords together and trim.
To add more patterns to your woven star, repeat the same wrapping process using a different colour cord but starting with the 'back' of your disc facing you.
Tie off the cord and trim once you have completed a second star. Now both sides of your disc will have the 2 different patterns layered on top of each other.
To add more layers of patterns to your woven stars, you can experiment with different spacing for the wrapping of the cords. In this example, I have started with the cord at the top again but wrapped the cord to the second slot on the right, then brought the cord up the back to the first slot.
Repeat the pattern twice around your disc to complete another star pattern.
Now you have the basic star pattern, you can experiment with different amounts of slots around your discs, different coloured cords and patterns. To make your woven star into a hanging decoration, just punch a hole in the card and add a loop of string.
Happy crafting friends!
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