Wet Felting with Kids
After watching me make the playscapes, my 6 year old begged me for days to do a wet felting project with him. He came up with the idea all on his own to make a hot pad with a sunrise over the sea. So precious!
I wanted to share some pics in case it gives you any ideas for alternative materials to use for the felting process!
When he told me his design idea, I let him choose which colors to use and then I handed him tufts of wool in appropriate sizes and let him lay them down. I did adjust things a few times, but I tried really hard to be hands off and let this project be his.
To make a round shape, we just laid down the wool the same way I show in the tutorial, but we avoided making corners. During the felting process, we tucked under all the edges which helped for the round shape.
We used a bamboo placemat that my dad had in his home and it worked really well. I love the idea of using a bamboo placemat instead of bubble wrap for smaller projects like this.
We used this nylon netting on top and even though it was way larger than the bamboo mat, it did not cause any issues.
We poured plain hot water over the piece with a watering can (I will use a watering can from now on!) and then the boys took turns rubbing the olive oil soap bar directly onto the netting. It worked well.
I forgot to lay the towel down first, oops!
Be prepared to be abandoned after they do 3 minutes of rolling... hahaha. You'll likely end up finishing the project by yourself. I couldn't even interest him in the final step of rinsing.
My dad had the idea to use this rack outside to speed up the drying process!
I'm a little concerned that we didn't make it thick enough for a hot pad, but I will treasure this forever. 🙂
He had the idea to write his name with wool on the back. We did this somewhere in the middle of the felting process, once it felt safe to flip the piece over without messing up the design on the front. His name is not 100% felted, it's a tad loose, but I don't think it will be an issue. I might use my felting needle to try to secure it better at some point.
As always, let me know if you have any questions! If you make something with your child, send me a pic and I'll add it to a photo gallery on this page!