Ok, I have another great weaving project for your kids to try! This time we’re weaving on paper plates and turning them into lovely woven bowls for your kids to keep trinkets and treasures in.
My daycare hooligans love yarn crafts, and right now, they’re obsessed with weaving. In recent months, they’ve mastered traditional loom weaving, they’ve tried stick weaving, CD weaving and cardboard circle weaving.
When we were circle weaving, some of our projects turned out a bit bowl-shaped, which made me wonder if we could intentionally weave a bowl somehow.
Well, it turns out, you can! All you need is a paper plate and some yarn! I’m going to show you how easy it is to do.
You can watch the video tutorial I’ve made or if you prefer, you can follow the written instructions below the video.
How-to Video:
Much like any other weaving project, the weaving itself is simple. It’s just an in and out motion around the paper plate until the sides of your bowl are covered in yarn.
You can use a multi-coloured yarn and weave your bowl all with that one yarn and it will turn out multicoloured, or you can use several solid colours and just cut your yarn and tie on a new colour whenever you want. You can tuck the tails in to hide them when your project is finished.
This is such a wonderful way for kids to enjoy a relaxing weaving project, to strengthen their fine motor skills and to use up scrap yarn.
Wouldn’t these look great on a desk or dresser, along with our yarn wrapped pencil organizer?
How to Weave a Paper Plate Bowl:
Supplies:
- paper plate
- pencil
- something round to trace
- yarn
- scissors
- glue and paintbrush (for inside base of bowl)
Instructions:
Before you start weaving, you’ll need to prepare your paper plate.
- Mark your plate:
Trace a circle in the center of your paper plate. This will be the base of your bowl.
Next, make an uneven number of marks, evenly spaced, around the edge of the paper plate.
Then draw a straight line to connect each mark to the circle that you drew.
- Cut
Cut along each line, stopping at the circle that you drew.
Now, make cuts on either side of each cut to form a V.
- Fold
Fold each section at the pencil circle line and bend the sections up to form shape of your bowl. If any of the sections overlap, trim to make the V wider so there’s no overlap when the bowl is formed (see video).
- Begin weaving
Slip a piece of yarn between one of the cuts, leaving a tail, which you can hold down with your thumb while you get started. Weave in and out of the cuts, around and around the bowl. NOTE: Keep the sections of your bowl folded upwards as you weave. If you flatten them down, your weaving will not resemble a bowl.
Occasionally stop to assess your work and to push your yarn down if need be to ensure the paper plate isn’t visible through your weaving.
- To change colours
To change to a new colour, snip your yarn, leaving a tail, and tie on a new piece of yarn, leaving another tail. You can trim these tails and tuck them in when you finish weaving.
- Finishing your weaving
Stop weaving about 1/8 of an inch away from the top of the bowl. Cut your yarn and leave a tail which you will tuck in shortly.
- Fold the edges
Fold the remaining top edge of each section down and crease firmly to create the bowl’s rim and to ensure your weaving doesn’t slip off the top of the bowl.
- Decorate the inside base
Brush some glue over the inside base of the bowl, and use a long strand of yarn to create a spiral to cover the base of the bowl.
- Tuck in tails
Using a pencil, tuck in any loose tails of yarn.
Your woven bowl is complete and now ready to store trinkets and treasures in!
Wasn’t that fun? It’s a rather addictive process, so your kids may not be able to stop at just one!
More fun and easy weaving projects:
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
