Woven Coaster

       Weaving coasters is a great project for your students to make as Christmas gifts for a family member.  It is a challenging project to do which is why this project is classified as a fifth grade level project.  To begin this project, each student will be given a loom that is made out of cardboard and two arms length of white yarn.  Each student is required to use at least two different colors of yarn not including the white that was given to them.  I chose blue and green.  If this project is going to be used as Christmas gifts, you might want to use the colors green, red, gold, and silver.  Next, the students will wrap the yarn around the top and bottom of the loom and go behind the tabs and back to the front of the loom. A majority of the yarn should be on the front side of the cardboard.  The only yarn that should be showing on the back side is the yarn that is wrapped around the tabs.  Now, the students will begin to weave their different colored yarn.  They will first tie one end of their first color to the top right corner of the loom.  Then, the students will weave their yarn through their loom by going over and under the white yarn.  After going across the loom each time, the students will need to push their yarn up to keep it tight together.  If the students pull too tight on each end, their coaster will look like an hour glass instead of a rectangle.  If the students want to change colors they would tie the end of the color they just used to the color they want next.  Once the coaster is finished, the students will tie the end to the white yarn and then finish the ends with some fringe with the white yarn and pull it off the cardboard loom.  While we were making our coasters, we listened to the book "Gathering Blue".  

       An extension activity for this project could be to incorporate different math patterns into our weaving project using more than 3 colors or shapes.  Now, in junior high, the students could do a more advanced weaving project in FACS if the class is offered.