Circle looms
3rd grade
You will be using concentric circles to create a sculpture that is on a circle loom like this:
Your circle loom will have concentric circles painted on a plate, AND concentric circles made out of yarn on top of that.
Step 1: Paint a concentric circle like Wassily Kandinsky:
When you start painting your circles, you should think about the main background colors first. Make sure you start painting on the middle of your plate and work outward. Make sure you don't have any white spaces, and fill your entire plate with color..... like these.....
step 2: add patterns with small brushes
step 3: use the loom template to cut out 19 notches
step 4: warp the loom
First step: Put the tail end of the yarn in any notch. There should be a short tail about the length of your finger in the back while the rest of the yarn hangs loose and free in the front. Go. (I tell the kids that their "go" signal to me for the next step is to put their weavings on the floor in front of them. When I see that, I can proceed.)
Next: Bring the length of yarn down dividing the plate in half (see above photo). But, there's a catch. Be sure that there are 8 empty notches on the left side and 9 on the right. That's muy importante, ya'll. Go.
Next: Bring the length of yarn down dividing the plate in half (see above photo). But, there's a catch. Be sure that there are 8 empty notches on the left side and 9 on the right. That's muy importante, ya'll. Go.
Now: (see left photo) Take the long length of string and have it "go to the right neighbor's house" meaning have your string go in the next notch on the right hand side. Now, this neighbor is super rude and it shouts, "get outta my house!" so the string runs all the way across the plate (see right photo) and makes the World's Smallest X.
Next: Rotate the plate so that the length of string is at the bottom (left picture). That story I just told about the string getting kicked out of the neighbor's house? It's a pattern. Which means it's gonna repeat. So, let's do it again! Go to the right neighbors house. Get kicked out. Go across the street and make the World's Smallest X. Rotate the plate.
After watching this routine, the kids walk me through completing my plate warping by repeating this as I go:
Go the neighbor. Get kicked out. Make World's Smallest X. Rotate the Plate.
Which gets shortened to:
Neighbor. Out. X. Rotate.
After watching this routine, the kids walk me through completing my plate warping by repeating this as I go:
Go the neighbor. Get kicked out. Make World's Smallest X. Rotate the Plate.
Which gets shortened to:
Neighbor. Out. X. Rotate.
step 5: weft the loom
When their weft is as long as their hand, they are to double knot tie a new string to the end. It can be a tough first day...but I repeat over and again: Your first day of weaving is the hardest. But you'll get this. And you'll love it.