Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In addition to the guacamole and margaritas we will be making later, we decided to make some yarn art inspired by the Huichol Yarn Paintings.

You can read a little about the history of them here and here. Basically, yarn is used for the entire “painting” to create an image or design.

I did yarn paintings with my students when I was teaching but I typically did them with my older classes. Even though these are a little advanced for my girls, I thought they would enjoy the process.

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Supplies:

Cardboard- saved from packaging or cereal boxes and cut to a small size

Yarn (several colors would be good)

Glue

We started first by drawing out our idea onto a piece of cardboard that I had saved from some packaging. Cardboard from cereal boxes would work too but the sturdier pieces would hold the wet glue better.

*Note: These take quite a bit of patience, as they can take a long time to complete, so I would suggest working on a small scale, especially for younger children.

Once the drawing idea is complete, yarn is used to fill in the design.

Start by selecting an area to start with and squeeze a line of glue. Press the yarn into the glue…your hands can get a little sticky and can pull up the yarn so we used toothpicks and pencils to help stick it down. We also had baby wipes handy to help clean our fingers off from time to time.

Willa was in heaven to have free reign of the glue. She squeezed and squeezed to her heart’s content.

At two and half years old, Willa’s yarn painting was more about the process than product, obviously, but she really enjoyed it. Check out that face…intense focus!

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