Woven Place Mat
Here's an attractive place mat you can really use. Be sure to laminate the finished piece, so that it can resist any spills.
By: Trish Kuffner, author of The Children's Busy Book
Woven Place Mat
Materials
- Construction paper in two or three colors
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Stapler or glue
Directions
- Fold a sheet of construction paper in half so the long edges meet.
- Hold the paper so the fold faces you.
- Starting 1 inch from the left edge, mark every 1/2 inch along the fold.
- Stop marking 1 inch from the right edge.
- At each mark, cut a straight slit from the fold to 1 inch from the top edge.
- Unfold the sheet of paper.
- This is the mat that will be woven.
- Cut 1/2-inch-wide strips of construction paper in one or two other colors.
- The strips should be as long as the long sides of the mat.
- Beginning at one of the short sides of the mat, help your child weave a strip down through the first slit, up through the second, down through the third, and so on through all the slits.
- Weave another strip up through the first slit, down through the second, up through the third, and so on.
- Continue weaving strips in this way until there's no room for any more strips.
- Adjust each strip after weaving it so it's snug against its neighbor and/or the edge of the mat.
- Secure the strips along the short edges of the mat with staples or glue.