Woven Easter Crosses

Create some beautiful three-dimensional art, & explore the Easter Story.
A fun activity that can be adapted to suit all age groups and skill levels.

Take the cross pattern as a base idea.
Allow your tamariki time to reflect on what makes Easter special for them and create a design to represent it.
It could be anything and each will be wonderfully unique!!

 
 

Materials Needed:

  • Large-ish flat pieces of wood

  • Hammer

  • Lots of nails - flat head nails work best to hold the string

  • Coloured string or wool

  • Ruler

  • Scissors

  • Pen

How To Make a Woven Easter Cross:

1. Using the ruler and pen, mark out a cross shape on the wood so you can see where to put the nails. For young children keep it simple (4 points of the cross and 1 in the centre). Older children can do more intricate designs.

2. Hammer nails on the points but don’t hammer them all the way in. You need to ensure there is enough of the nail sticking up out of the wood for the string to have space to wrap around.

3. Tie one end of a long piece of string or wool to one of the nails.

4. Weave and wind the string around the nails. To create the simple cross shape it is easiest to start on the middle nail and weave up and down in one direction, then move from the centre nail to the arms of the cross side to side.

5. Add different colours by tying off one colour and starting again with another colour.

6. Once the pattern is complete, tie the loose end to a nail to secure it in place and prevent it from unraveling.

 
 

Lisa’s Top Tips

  • Paint or decorate the pieces of wood before nailing for a colourful background.

  • Offer different colours of string, wool or thin wire.

  • Extend older children by incorporating mathematics into the design process with accurate measuring and spacing of the nails. Explore symmetry and geometry concepts. Challenge them with different weaving techniques such as herringbone or zigzag patterns to add more complexity and texture to their designs.

  • Encourage younger children to keep their designs very simple with a clear outline so it’s easy to nail and weave.
    Or simply let them Freestyle It!

  • Keep in mind that it’s the process, not the end product that’s important. So long as they’re having fun it really doesn’t matter how it turns out.
    With this project you can guarantee they’ll be learning, developing skills and exercising their creative muscles regardless!

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