Finger Knitting
Thanks to the fine folks at our children's Montessori School my son has learned Finger Knitting. This might be more familiar to people as crocheting.
He has really started driving this on his own, planning to make more and thinking creatively about what he could do next. He even does it on the occasion when we watch a movie, and he will also sit on his own and focus carefully. Here's a picture of him hard at work.
Bowmore Mini Make It Fair
As a result of his work he has decided to apply for the Bowmore Mini Make It Fair. Here are his thoughts (As told to daddy by 6 year old Michael):
Its fingerknitting. You use your fingers and yarn to make a long strand, and you make things out of it like a mat for the floor or a mat for pots on the table. A hat, or scarf too.Michael wants to teach people how to do finger knitting. He will show some of his projects and he will also have small balls of yarn for people to try it, and take home. "Finger knitting holder" plans will be given away for free for people who want to make it for themselves. He will also have finger knitting holders for sale (so that you can stop working on your knitting and store it somewhere safe so you do not lose your stiches). He will have screws, blocks of wood, screwdrivers and googly eyes for people to make their own knitting holders.
This picture shows the deluxe version - with arms and legs. The basic version will have just the four screws as "hair" on the head. Michael cut almost all the pieces of wood himself. He pre-drilled ALL the 4 hair holes on every block using a template, hammer, centre punch, and a jig clamped to the drill press table with an x-y sliding vise. It will be easier for kids to screw in the screws when the holes are pre-drilled. Advanced kids can see how hard it is to screw them in with no pre-drilled hole, or use the impact driver (with goggles of course)!
Michael has covered a lot of ground and worked very hard on this project. It has given him a new appreciation for what goes into the Home Depot Kids workshops we go to. He has been developing his language skills (writing, reading/research, media literacy) as we have made posters. We researched and made posters about the types of screws and parts of screws. He also did a huge poster (see below) with assistance, based on a scale drawing plan. He used his own home-made meter stick to create a partial grid to help his accuracy. We only had one minor challenge when he got some "help" from his younger sibling. Mathematically, he has been doing a lot of calculations. We had to estimate how many kits to prepare, based on the estimates from last year's Make It Fair. Then we had to use that number to calculate how many screws to buy. (He also wanted to buy extras, just in case, so we don't run out. He knows Home Depot is great about returning things! Less wasted money, and less wasted materials!) We have also discussed money management skills. He knows how much we will spend, and how much he hopes to make from his sales. He has set a savings goal, and come up with a realistic price for the kits that will hopefully satisfy customers and still allow him to move towards his goal. Can't wait till next weekend!
