A large part of what makes the co-op school experience unique is adult participation in our classes. Our families have the option to share their skills and talents to leave a special imprint on class activities.
Our Kinderbirds (kindergarten) teacher, Mrs. Yordy, welcomes all ideas to enrich the classroom experience. So, when a Kinderbird mom wanted to share her weaving talents with the class, Mrs. Yordy enthusiastically collaborated to organize the idea into a project!
Beth Englert, Kinderbird mom and Art Chair for Meridian Hills Cooperative Nursery School & Kindergarten, has a passion for arts and crafts, especially weaving. She began a class weaving project by showing the Kinderbirds how to dye yarn using Kool-Aid. Each child selected their own color (flavor) and watched the yarn change to rainbow colors in jars. 
After the yarn soaked up the colors, Beth took it home to rinse and dry with the help of her two kiddos. For the second part of the project, the Kinderbirds got to do their own weaving. Beth took extra time to make each Kinderbird their own cardboard loom using recycled boxes and assisted the class with using their looms. They LOVED it and proudly displayed their weaving work in the giant window overlooking the playground.
For the final part of this invitation to weave, Beth brought in her own table loom. The kiddos learned how the warp (the yarns attached to the loom) is wound onto the loom and threaded individually in a predetermined way to create the pattern you want. Through hands-on experience, they observed how levers control the shafts, which lift certain yarns at a time. They used only two shafts to create a “plain weave/tabby weave,” which was the simple over/under pattern they practiced on their cardboard looms.
Special thanks to Beth, Mrs. Yordy, and all our co-op adults for sharing your caring spirit and love for learning with our kiddos throughout the year! We are truly a family of families, with teachers, children, and adults learning and growing together.
