5th Grade - Needle Felting Abstracts

My new FAVORITE fibers material to teach is WOOL FELTING!  I love it... my students love it! 

I bought all the supplies from Back to Back Alpaca.  They sell classroom sets of foam, needles, wool "canvases" and roving.  Plus... they offer a teacher discount! It is very affordable once you get set up, the roving goes a LONG WAY! 

The biggest teaching tip... teach PROPER NEEDLE FORM!  Straight up and down, not too fast, not too hard.  I have about 6 needles break over the whole unit, so having an extra dozen is required... just in case! But once you correct a few, they get the idea and are more careful.  

We started with the wool yarn first, breaking up the space with simple lines and shapes, then filled in with the roving.  I recommend staying abstract your first year teaching, then going more realistic if you choose to.  I had a few students make their's more realistic, which was fine with me.  As the teacher, I have been learning how to teach this material... having my own learning curve to overcome first. Next year I will be more creative with my inspiration.  I needed to see how they handled this material a couple times first.  It has been much easier than expected! I can't wait for next year!