Make: Wet Felted Stones
The process of wet felting is very simple and can be enjoyed by both toddlers and adults alike. It is a fully immersive, water-filled, sensory experience that can be experienced at home in a sink, or in a classroom with some bowls. Water play is such a regulating experience for children, and this one has the added benefit of making something with two materials that are so interesting in their contrasts of hard and soft. Make sure to cover your table with a towel, and shift your mindset to one of experimentation and playfulness.
Supplies Needed for Wet Felted Stones
Smooth stones collected from outside
Wool Roving
Bowl
Dish soap
Towels
Netting or Tulle (optional)
How to Wet Felt
1. Cover a table with a towel. Set up a bowl of soapy, warm water. Set aside.
2. Choose your wool roving colors. Pull some pieces apart so that they are about twice as long as the stone you are using. You can mix neutral colors with little pieces of white to create more realistic stone patterns, or you can play with colors in the same family, or just go for a rainbow or multi-colored look. The choice is yours. Play around!
3. Wrap a thin layer of wool roving around the stone, and then another thin layer in the opposite direction. Add more if it’s too thin and if there are some bare spots.
4. The wool will feel very loose around the stone, and that’s ok. Dip it into the soapy water and start to squeeze and pat the stone, like you are making a mud pie. Keep squeezing and patting, making sure the wool is even around the stone. If you have any tulle, you can wrap a piece around the stone and rub it on top of the tulle. This helps to keep all the wool from moving around, but it’s a “nice to have” not imperative for the process. The more you rub, the more the fibers will wrap around each other while shrinking.
5. After you feel like your squeezed, patted, and rubbed enough, dip the stone into clean water to rinse out the soap. Then let it dry in a sunny spot, or overnight on the towel. The fibers will continue to shrink as they dry.
When Shannon tried this in her classroom, here’s what she observed:
“I was kind of worried these would be hard to pull off in a classroom but I have to tell you, it’s all about mindset! If you keep repeating process over product, not only will your students shock you with their creativity and take on these experiences, you will enjoy the experience too!”
“This absolutely became about the sensory play — washing baby rocks, doing their hair, just enjoying swirling in the water. The physical experience of making these was really engaging for so many. Just goes to show that even a more “technique” focused experience can be opened with a simple mindset shift!
Would you try this in your classroom?
Tag us in Instagram @the.creativityproject if you do!
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