Stick Frame Nature Loom Weaving

4 sturdy sticks about 12 inches long each

String or twine

Natural weaving materials — long grasses, wildflowers, thin vines, strips of bark, feathers

Scissors

Find four sturdy, straight sticks. Lash them together at the corners with string to form a rectangular frame. Wrap the string several times around each joint for strength.

Tie lengths of string vertically across the frame, spacing them about an inch apart. These are the warp threads that you weave through.

Go on a nature walk and collect weaving materials. Look for long grasses, strips of bark, wildflowers with stems, thin bendy vines, and feathers.

Show your child the basic weaving motion — take a grass blade and weave it over the first string, under the next, over, under, all the way across.

Push each woven row snug against the previous one for a tight weave.

Alternate materials for visual variety — a row of green grass, then a purple flower, then a brown vine, then a feather tucked in.

When the loom is full, tie off any loose ends. Hang the finished nature weaving on a wall, door, or tree branch.

The loom frame does not need to be perfect. Slightly wonky sticks add character. This is nature art, not factory production.

Long, flexible materials weave best. Short, stiff items can be tucked in but will not weave well.

An adult should build the frame and string the warp. The child's job is the actual weaving — which is the creative, skill-building part.

This is a real textile arts technique. Humans have been weaving on looms for thousands of years, and your child is doing the same thing at its most elemental level.

Make the nature loom a seasonal tradition — weave one each season to capture the materials available at that time of year.