Crocheting to Care
The Why:
Students can learn the skill of crocheting and create items that show care for others. From friendship bracelets to rectangles that can be sent to organizations that make blankets for the homeless, students can make a different in the lives of others through their crocheting.
Crocheting Project Ideas
- Friendship Bracelets
- 7"x9" Rectangles
- Plastic Bag Mats
- Ornaments
Inspiration:
One of the most famous youth crocheters is Jonah Larson. Below is one of his videos, which is great to watch as inspiration to kick off this project.
Tutorials for Crocheting:
- Here is a playlist for step-by-step instructions on how to crochet. This resource was shared with me by my friend Mary Wever, another MS STEAM teacher in Michigan.
- For those who learn better by reading instructions, they can try: https://www.wikihow.life/Crochet or the 4-H Crochet Guide.
Warm Up America
Warm Up America is a non-profit that donates hand knitted and crocheted blankets to people in need through volunteers who create 7"x9" rectangles. Volunteers from around the nation work together to create these wonderful blankets that get donated to homeless shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and more!
Friendship Bracelets
As an alternate project for those who are challenged by multiple rows of crochet, students can create friendship bracelets from single chained crochet. They can give them to friends and family members. We even put a bag out in the hallway for students to help themselves to.
Crocheting Mats for Homeless Out of Plastic Bags
The video above highlights the awesome ways you can upcycle plastic grocery bags and make a difference to those not fortunate to have a roof over their heads. In our classroom, we collected plastic bags. When students were done with assignments, cutting bags became a great project for them to work on to create the plarn (plastic yarn). Each mat takes 600-700 bags, so our goal is to create 1 or 2 of them in the next couple months...and perhaps throughout the year continue making them as we get bags in. It is a great on-going project for early finishers, as well as a way to collaborate as a group on a maker project. For written instructions on how to make the mats, check out these directions.
Good Luck and Happy Holidays!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Jennifer Bond (teamthirdgrade@gmail.com) or Mary Wever (marywever@gmail.com) to learn how we have created crocheting experiences for our students.
(This photo is from ISTE 2018 when we were part of the Let's MAKE a Deal game show...complete with 80's attire! We have fun Make-ing a Difference, and we hope you do too!)