I started off my reading my kiddos Rumplestiltskin. I found a version already edited for kids, and only wanted to change a few small details. For example, I added a paragraph that showed passage of time between when the miller’s daughter and the prince first met, and when they got married.

Once we finished the story - which was well-loved by all! - we got right to work on out thread artwork. I had each of the kids draw (or ask me to draw) a shape, and helped them hammer the nails at appropriate intervals. G5 only banged my fingers once! Then, they twisted the string around the nails until they were happy with the design it made. For G2, I held the string and had her point to which nail she wanted it wound around next.

Next, we played one of my favourite word games: how many words can we make from the letters in “Rumplestiltskin”? I had pre-sorted some Bananagrams tiles with the right letters to give them a tactile way to shuffle them around. I was beyond impressed by what they came up with, and wish I had a picture from closer to the end of the game!

Next, we made drop spindles out of rocks, rubber bands, and pencils. I showed them how to get it going, and we ended up spending the rest of camp time, as well as a fair bit of time in the afternoon, focused on this craft. It was a challenging and even a little frustrating, but in a good way - these guys were DETERMIEND to get the hang of it. They even started experimenting with blending different colours together.

By the end of camp, our conversation was revolving around what sorts of textile arts they could start getting into, and we have plans for G5 to begin knitting a scarf and B7 to sew a pillow.