Make Woolly Pompoms

What You Need:

• Stiff cardboard
• Pompom template
• Pencil
• Tracing paper
• Ball of wool yarn
• Sharp scissors

What You Do:

1. Have your child trace a big donut shape onto the cardboard to make a pompom template. Make another small template for a smaller pompom.
2. Ask her to cut out the traced shapes. You should have two identical cardboard pieces shaped like round doughnuts.
3. Holding the two cardboard cut-outs together, loop the loose end of the ball of yarn through the center hole and around the outer edge and tie a knot to secure the yarn to the cardboard.
4. Check to see that your ball of yarn is small enough to fit through the center hole. If it isn't, cut the ball of yarn into shorter sections and re-wind each section into a smaller ball.
5. Have your child wind the wool around the cardboard circle, pushing it through the center hole and around the outer edge over and over again . Ask your child to wind the yarn evenly around the circle as well as she can.
6. Continue to wind the yarn around the circle until the the ball of yarn no longer fits through the center hole. If you come to the end of a ball of yarn, just attach another ball to the cardboard and continue winding.
7. Have your child carefully cut around the outer edge of the wool circle. The wool strands should be relatively even in length and the tension in the center hole should keep the strands from falling.
8. Have your child slide a length of yarn (approximately 8”) between the two cardboard cut-outs and knot it tightly around the middle of the pompom. Repeat with another length of yarn to make sure the strands are tied securely.
9. Ask your child to carefully tear away the cardboard circles and fluff up the wool to create her pompom.

Try making a pompom snowman ornament for a fun holiday-themed craft. To make the snowman's head and body, just make one big pompom and one small one with white yarn, then tie them together. For his face, cut a pair of eyes, a nose, a mouth, and a scarf out of colored felt or fabric and glue them on!