Felting with Children

Last week was awesome! I was lucky enough to spend the entire week working with Lowton Junior and Infants School in Wigan on an enormous felt wall hanging.

The theme was New Beginnings, as they had just had a large amount of building work done, and the hanging was for the new entrance to the school. We decided to create a garden with flowers and insects in lots of beautiful bright school, some sparkle and beads.

I worked with every child in the school to make individual pieces for it. We made various flowers, bees, butterflies, caterpillars, snails, leaves and even a frog! Reception did a follow me style workshop while Year 6 worked from photographs, identifying shape and colour.  Year 5 and 6 also helped to blend the background using drum careers - they found this very exciting - and to put it all together and felt it.

I took it away to dry (which took some time) and then to add a bit of stitching and a few beads to enhance it (I was very careful not to do to much as I wanted it to be theirs).

I went in yesterday to hang it and it looks so beautiful, Working with the children was amazing! They loved the process, getting wet and making bubbles. They all made a piece they where proud of and can now spend hours hunting for their little work of art.  It is such a tactile piece and I'm pleased to say that the children will be encouraged to touch it - if we want to they surely will! 

Here are a few photographs of the children's work! 

     

      Fabulous flowers by Year 3 and 4

     Bees and ladybirds by Reception

    Flowers by Year 5 - working from photographs 

    

    Beautiful butterfly by a very talented Year 6 child

    Such a little character!

    

     The completed wall hanging - the collective work of 150 creative and talented children