Making Yarn Sticks with Kids

Apr 30

Written By Tiffiny Spire

This is a simple craft that kids of all ages will enjoy and be able to help create.

Making yarn sticks is a fun way for kids to bring the outdoors in and engage their imagination.

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What are yarn sticks?

Simply put; they’re sticks wrapped in yarn.

What are they for?

Imaginative play.

You might not understand the beauty of yarn sticks until you (and your kids) make some.

I don’t know who the first person was to think of wrapping sticks with yarn, but they were pretty brilliant.

This craft is so simple, why WOULDN’T you do it?

Kids (young and old) already love playing with sticks. Wrapping them with yarn adds color and softens the edges.

And suddenly kids don’t have just a stick in their hands, they have a fairy wand or a pirate’s sword or whatever else they can imagine. And their imaginations will definitely kick in. Just wrap the stick and watch the magic happen.

Now that I’ve convinced you to make this craft. Here’s the “how-to.”

First, gather your sticks. This gives kids a perfect reason to go for a nature hunt. They can search for sticks in their own back yard, a city park, or out in a more rural setting somewhere.

Once you have a handful of sticks about 8-12 inches long, you need to clean them.

It’s always a good idea to wash items brought in from nature. Spiders and bugs can be hidden in them. It’s easy to do, the only problem is having to wait for the items to dry.

To wash your sticks, simply soak them for about 10 minutes in a solution of vinegar and water. There’s no set ratio, but don’t be shy with the vinegar. We usually do about 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water. You just need enough to submerge the items and swish them around.

After the vinegar soak, give the items a thorough rinsing.

Then let them dry. This could take several hours.

Once your sticks are clean and dry, you’re ready to start wrapping.

Yarn wrapping presents REALLY GOOD fine motor skills practice for kids, so let them help with this. Even preschoolers should be able to do this, though they will need some guidance, and they may tire of the wrapping before they finish the whole stick.

Start with your yarn at one end of the stick. Hold it so that a little bit overlaps, and start wrapping the stick. Keep the yarn pulled tight as you work toward the other end of your stick. For added strength, you can hot glue the yarn at the start and again when finishing the end.

Repeat with other sticks and possibly other colors.

Let the imaginative play begin.

No guidance for the play is really needed (except maybe some safety reminders), but one idea is playing tic-tac-toe with things from nature.