Teaching Spinning

We try to do fun things when we homeschool. Hands-on projects are favorites. This week I taught the children how to use a carder and drop spindle. Here are a few photos from the day. Thanks to Vet2Be for taking them!

 Charging the carder with wool.

The carder all full of wool. The wool is nothing special, just stuff I use for teaching. It wasn't sheared very well so it is great practice wool.

 Me showing the kids how to card :)

One of the hardest concepts for kids to understand is to not dig the teeth of the top carder into the teeth of the bottom carder! One of the kids had the wool pushed way down into the teeth because she didn't understand that the purpose of carding is just to get the fibers going in the same direction and to get the last bits of vegetable matter out.

Each time I teach something I learn how to explain it better for the next time. This was no exception!