Make It: Gnome Friends

My first graders made many gnomes this winter during indoor play time. It was so wonderful to see – it kept them busy, busy, busy helping each other, cutting and sewing, and, most importantly, making up names and games for their new friends.

Here’s how to make them!

Kid’s Craft Project: Gnome Friends

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When children make things, it is so good for them to work with real materials instead of synthetics. If you can swing it, use real wool roving and wool felt and cotton thread. I’ve created links to materials that are similar to the ones we used at school below.

Supplies You Will Need:

You’ll need wool roving – it’s fun to get lots of colors, but you can also just get one and that’s lovely too:

Wool roving many colors 

Natural wool roving 

Wool felt

Sewing Needles with larger heads 

Embroidery Floss 

Child’s Craft Scissors

You don’t NEED a needle threader, but it sure is nice to teach the children how to use it and not get called in to thread needles while you’re cooking dinner. I thought this one was particularly cute:

Needle threader

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Now to start: 

I did this part for many of my students for their first gnomes and then they took over once they got the hang of it.

1. Cut out a piece of wool felt, perhaps start with 4×4 inches (12 cm) or so for the first one. Later you can make tiny ones or giant ones, although both are a bit more challenging to stuff. Fold it in half and cut it into a “little house shape” with a triangle top.

2. Now cut a little hole for the face with your craft scissors right across from where the “roof” meets the house. It is easiest to do this when the little house shape is still folded in half.

3. Now thread a needle with your favorite color of embroidery floss that either matches the felt or is a fun contrasting color. I recommend a needle threader for your sanity…

4. Sew the outside edges together using whatever stitch you like.

5. Now pull out a bit of wool roving and poke it into the felt to make the gnomes’ body. You can even pull out a little bit to make a beard!

6. Voila! You have a new friend!

Kids love to make a whole forest full of gnomes of many sizes and shapes. Not all of them work out well, but the experimenting is half the fun!

If you make a gnome or 12, please send pictures to april (at) aprileight (dot) com. You know that I’d love to see them!

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Thanks for your understanding!