Woven Hearts Mobile

Here is a little art project that uses a simple sewing and weaving method that is both beautiful in its results and manageable for young children. Plus it is fantastic for hand-eye co-ordination, fine motor skills and concentration!

 

Why did we make this woven heart mobile?

We are taking part in a wonderful fundraising project initiated by Jamie from hands on: as we grow in support of the American Heart Association.  Jamie has a beautiful little cousin with major heart issues and as February is "heart month" she has put together an idea for over 100 creative heart projects to be collected from 70 talented bloggers,  and to be compiled into a beautiful eBook!

 Details for how to win a copy, purchase one or simply donate to the AHA are found at the bottom of this post. I hope you can support this and in so doing, find some amazingly creative ideas around the theme of hearts to try with your little ones at home!

 To make this mobile, we started with a piece of cardboard box which I cut into three heart shapes. They happened to be large, medium and small, which turned out nicely when we hung them up at the end! I cut out a smaller heart from the middle of each, to create a border ready for weaving. The girls painted the hearts on both sides, in a range of colours.

 When they were dry I found some thick wool/ yarn in pink, red and purple shades and cut them into manageable lengths for working with (each no longer than arm length.)

 I stuck the end onto the back of one of the hearts using sellotape and then demonstrated how to push the yarn through the middle, then around the outside and back, wrapping it around the border tightly. Cakie picked up the idea much more quickly than I imagined and I left her to do it her own way, wrapping some  widely and at an angle, leaving spaces and sometimes even loose. We were not aiming for a "cookie-cutter" result, but a process-driven art activity (as with most of our art ideas!)

 I helped her by taping down the ends as she reached them, then she chose which colour to work with next. I also helped her finish them off each time that she wanted to move onto the next heart (she wanted to do about half of each and every one, but they required some patience and she did ask me to help in the end!)

 When they were finished I trimmed off any loose ends, lay them over a long piece of yarn and stuck them down firmly with tape.

 They are then easy to hang up at the window (or from the ceiling if you have a hook at the ready!)

 Simple but very pretty and effective and perfect as a decoration for Valentine's Day (or for any time of year!)

Learning Links:

creativity: experiment with a range of materials and dimensions, weaving and sewing, creating with recycled materials

physical: hand-eye co-ordination skills, fine motor skills, pincer grasp

phse: concentrate on a project for extended periods of time, complete a self-intiated project, work collaboratively, be proud of own achievements

Cakie: 3 years 4 months

For more Valentine's or heart related activities click here!

Want to have a fabulous eBook filled with 100 other heart crafts, ideas and activities like this? Here's how you can donate to the Heart Project Fundraiser and pick up the eBook as a free thank you gift!

Here's a little sneak preview of a few of the pages from the book! Each gorgeous photo has an accompanying link to a heart-related craft, cooking or art activity for children! Each and every one is different!

Simply click here to donate $5 and the eBook will be yours!

As a bonus, CraftProjectIdeas.com is contributing $1 for every eBook sold this month! That means in addition to your $5 they will be adding $1 per book sold, up to a fantastic sum of $500! How fabulous is that?!

You can even buy a printed, paperback version of the book too! For $20, with $5 going directly to the AHA.

US $20.00

Order the Printed Version

Both the eBook and the printed book are ONLY available during the month of February!

 If you'd like to donate to the AHA without getting the eBook, that is also possible and can be done right here.

 

Also, check out Jamie's blog for some exciting information about some special giveaways that are happening on lots of blogs for this whole month! You can win a hard copy of the book among many fabulous products from Melissa & Doug, and others too!

Thank You!

Here's a full list of the fabulous contributors to this eBook!

hands on : as we grow	♥	A Little Learning for Two	♥	Among Many Blessings
Angelique Felix	♥	At Home with Ali	♥	Broken Treasures
Busy at Home	♥	Busy Kids Happy Mom	♥	Carrie Saindon's Photo Journey
Child Central Station	♥	Classified: Mom	♥	Classroom Magic
Creative with Kids	♥	Creativity My Passion	♥	Critters and Crayons
De Tout et de Rien	♥	Dilly-Dali Art	♥	Dinosaurs & Octopuses
Excited 2 Learn	♥	Hand Over the Cookies	♥	Handprint & Footprint Art
Happy Hooligans	♥	Heart Journey	♥	Imagination Soup
Jamie's Jumble	♥	Kitchen Counter Chronicles	♥	Kreative Resources
Let Kids Create	♥	Little Illuminationss	♥	Living Montessori Now
Loudness of the Lambs	♥	Love and Lollipops	♥	Mama, hocemo nesto da pravimo
Mama Pea Pod	♥	Mama Smiles	♥	MemeTales
Messy Kids	♥	Mindful Meanderings	♥	Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Mommy Labs	♥	Mommy Perks	♥	Mum Paints Lives
Mummy Mummy Mum	♥	My Creative Family	♥	NurtureStore
One Artsy Mama	♥	Peace Love & Rainbows	♥	Play Dr Mom
Putti Prapancha	♥	Rainbows within Reach	♥	Reading Confetti
Ready. Set. Read!	♥	Red Ted Art	♥	Sense of Wonder
Share & Remember	♥	Stacy Molter	♥	Sun Hats & Wellie Boots
Teach Preschool	♥	The Artful Child	♥	The Chocolate Muffin Tree
The Craft Barn	♥	The Educators' Spin on It	♥	The Golden Gleam
The Imagination Tree	♥	The Iowa Farmer's Wife	♥	The Joy of My Life
The Kids Fun Review	♥	The Outlaw Mom Blog	♥	The Preschool Toolbox
The Seeds Network	♥	Toddler Approved