At Acorn School, nursery- and kindergarten-aged children spend their time both indoors and out, balancing restful times with active fun and individual play with group activities. Throughout the year at this school, children journey through the seasons and spend time honoring special traditions. One way we celebrate spring is by making felted eggs, which you can easily do at home.
MATERIALS | For this project, you will need the following:
Two large plastic eggs, 100% wool roving (White Barn Sheep and Wool is an excellent source), ribbon, dish soap, hot water, embroidery floss, wheatgrass, alfalfa and mung bean seeds, forsythia branches, and small scissors.
#1 : About two weeks before you are ready to start felting, fill the bottom half of one of the plastic eggs with starter soil, and sow seeds. Wheatgrass will be the tallest, and the other two kinds will be curly and short. You can experiment with different seeds for different looks. These can be purchased at a health food store like the High Falls Food Coop. Place in a sunny spot and keep watered, being careful not to let the sprouts get too wet, for they will get moldy.
#2 : Cover the other egg with a six- to eight-inch square of wool roving, making sure that the wool is pulled apart into a "cloud" texture. Pull the wool firmly around to completely cover the egg. Take a second piece of wool, and put it in the opposite direction around the egg, layering in a cross hatch. I chose different colors for the inside and outside. The different pieces of wool can be the same color, of course, but it’s fun to use two different colors.
#3 : Cup the egg in your hand, and gently immerse it into hot, soapy water. Children especially love this part! It takes a while to fully wet the wool, at least as long as it takes to do a slow count to ten. Still cupping the egg, carefully take it out of the water.
#4 : While carefully holding the wet egg, squirt a thin stream of dish soap all around the egg. Then, holding the egg in one hand, start firmly PATTING the wool into the egg with your lubricated hand. At first, the wool will seemingly expand; have faith and keep patting until you begin to feel it shrinking—this will take about ten minutes of good patting. Once the wool begins to get well-felted, you can smooth the egg, making sure you have enough soap (but not too much!) on your hands to keep your hand from moving the wool around on the egg.
#5 : Once the wool feels snug and smooth around the egg and well-felted, finish with a hot rinse. Roll the egg in towels to remove excess water. When the egg is dry, use fine scissors to cut a zigzag most of the way around the egg, leaving approximately two inches across the back attached for a strong hinge.
#6 : Carefully remove the plastic egg. Take your twig and bend around the top, forming a handle. You will be tacking it at each side. Using strong embroidery floss, stitch the twig onto the felted egg.
#7 : Place the egg cup where your sprouts are growing into the felted egg.
#8 : Tie a ribbon at the corner.
Enjoy!
Acorn School offers an exceptional mixed age nursery/kindergarten program designed for two- to six-year-olds.
They cultivate a space for intelligent play, allowing children to engage with the physical world and each other. In their warm, home-like atmosphere, Acorn School creates not only a superior foundation for elementary school learning but also artistic ability, ethical values, social awareness, resilience, and health.
For more information contact Motria at 845-443-1541 or motria@acornschoolhouse.com.
