Over and Under Everything!

Andrew's class has been exploring weaving all year in collaboration with Rachel S. First Rachel worked with students to learn the basic stitch: over, under, over, under. 

They worked with paper first then made a giant loom to crawl through to get the "over and under" feeling into their bodies. How cool is that? Then students experimented with the "over and under" stitch on varied surfaces: sticks, straws and fingers. 

They wondered, what else could be a loom?  Looking around the classroom, kids thought about weaving on radiators and book baskets and the fence around the playground: anything that could be a recipient for their strings, yarns, and ribbons. Seeing possibilities everywhere, we sought donations from the people at Philadelphia Salvage. A collection  of "recycled looms" grew to include tennis rackets, baby gates, old shutters, and pickle barrel hoops. The kids set to work preparing "weavers" from strips of fabric, ribbons, caution tape and yarn. One student, AJ, really enjoyed being a "fabric ripper," tearing bolts into many useable strips.

 Working with partners over the course of many weeks, the class discovered the potential for unexpected objects and materials to be transformed into color and texture-filled beauty of many sizes and shapes with nothing more than the "over and under" mantra guiding the way. 

What can you find that can be a loom? Thank you, Rachel, for giving our kids a chance to experiment with this process and for taking these wonderful photos. Bring on the over, under...