Teaching Children to Knit
The Benefits of Teaching Children to Knit (and Some Tricks to Help)
There are many reasons to teach children to knit, and there are a few guidelines that, if followed, will ensure pleasure and rewards for both the children and the teacher.
Some people, and therefore some children, are more tactile than they are mental. In other words, they learn easier, are better able to concentrate, stay calmer, and/or are better able to pay attention, if their hands are kept busy.
Some students will be quite disruptive in a classroom if their hands are not kept busy. Some children will bother their siblings and get into trouble for the same reasons. Knitting can be an answer.
Get off to a good start with teaching a child to knit by choosing a project that holds a lot of interest for the child. With the popularity of cell phones, iPods, and Palm Pilots, for example, small cases for each can be knit up quickly.
If the child plays an instrument, he can knit a case for his flute or recorder, for example. If the child has a favorite doll, a poncho or blanket can be knit.
The next choice to be made is yarn. Let the child choose, but make sure the options are all washable, non-shrinking yarns. You will want to be able to toss the finished project into the washing machine whenever it becomes soiled.
Also, a yarn with a tight twist to it will be easier for the beginner to knit without splitting stitches.
Once the project and yarns are chosen, then the needles will need to be selected. Needle size always depends on the texture of the fabric you want to knit. For beginning knitters, larger needles, say size 8 and up, are the easiest to use. Also, the needles should be the shortest ones available.
If the child isn’t confused by a circular needle, a short one of size 8 or above is the best solution. When the knitting session is over for the day, the ends of the needle can be twisted into a half-knot and no stitches will slip off while the project sits waiting to be picked up and knitting resumed.
The two main problems a child learning to knit has are knitting too tightly, and splitting stitches. Children are always perplexed when they finish a row and have more stitches on the needle than they started with. By carefully watching and pointing out the problem, you can help them avoid this mistake.
The same is true of knitting tightly. Remind them that knitting is supposed to be relaxing, and not to pull the yarn too tightly. If you observe them as they knit, you can show them that moment right before they remove the stitch from the left-hand needle, when they can tug on their stitch and make it a bit looser.
Practice and paying attention to how it feels to knit, thereby ‘teaching’ your hands how it feels when it’s done right, are really the best ways to get past these problems and become an ace knitter.
The joy on their faces when they’ve created something with their own hands is the reward for all those clumsy moments and makes it all worthwhile in teaching kids to knit.