Mexican Weavings

I have experimented with several different looms in the past few years, including home-made looms made from styrofoam containers, and several store bought cardboard looms. I like the larger ones, but they take a long time to complete and children start losing interest in the lesson after a few weeks. I went with the smaller ones this year, about the size of a post card. The products look cute, but the weaving doesn't hold up as well when taken off the loom. I decided to just keep them on the looms and attach a border to them to finish the piece.

I also purchase plastic needles for the project. They make the weaving process easier.

The looms come with instructions for attaching the warp and weft. Some children have trouble tying knots in general but they do just fine otherwise. I show the students photos from the internet of Mexicans making colorful weavings on giant looms to inspire them. After we completed the weaving, the children learned about Mexican designs. I printed some simple designs off the internet and the children copied them with markers and color pencil to make a colorful border!