Felted Flowers – Perfect Activity for Little Ones

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and I have been working on these felted flowers with some of the children I work with. This is a simple activity that even the littlest of children can do (though my 9 month old ‘helped’ mostly by chewing on them.) Not only is this a great gift idea, there are many benefits to young children engaging in sensory activities with natural materials.

Supplies Needed: 

Wool Roving – Can be purchsed at most yarn stores. If you live in Seattle, Weaving Works is the best place that I have found .

Muffin Tins

Natural Soap – You can use Dish Soap or a Castille Soap (like Dr. Bronners)

Directions:

First you roll up the roving and place it into the tins, much like you would roll a cinnamon roll in a little spiral. You can do one color or multiple layers.

Add a tiny bit of soap and water. You want it to be fairly soapy in the beginning.

The felting process begins with a patting motion. Gently pat the soapy felt down into the pins until they feel fairly felted. You can do the whole process with this patting motion, flipping the flower a few times to get both sides. After this is done you can felt them in your palms a little bit to give them a more rounded look, they felt fast this way so check often.

(This is my son helping, he liked the sound the pan made on the cement when he hit it. He receives all of the benefits of playing with the wool and the pan, the product will come when he is older. Art with children is mostly about the process anyways.)

Now you have some lovely little flowers to use for pins, bracelets, additions to clothing or any other creative ideas you can think of.

Please comment if I have left out any information or if you have any fun additions to this activity. Enjoy!