Wet Felting with Children

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Wet felting a Waldorf favourite and a favourite of ours as a family.

Wet felting has so many sensory benefits to it and really encourages the child to really ground themselves whilst they consider the movement of their hands, the gentle and gradually increasing pressure they apply as they roll the felt into apples (in this case). It is an activity which can centre and calm.

Wet felting does not have to be done with the hands, when children have high energy levels, filling a bowl with a little warm soapy water and some lavender oil and allowing them to stomp on wool in the bowl with their feet to felt it, can not only provide much needed satisfaction in movement, but can help ground them and calm them ready for play. These special mats of felt can then be dried and repurposed into handwork, scenery for the nature table or made into gifts at special times of the year.

So what is the key to great wet felting?

• Good quality wool roving, the finer the feel the smoother the wool will felt, of course there are so many breeds of sheep which produce rich colours and textures so try mixing them by ‘hand carding’ ⬇️

• Hand carding is another way to mix colours and blend wool types, it’s fun to do simply brushing the wool across the carders (a carder in each hand) to separate the fibres. If you haven’t any hand carders buy some fine dog brushes (I’ll post in stories) they honestly are a lot smaller but great for children to learn to use and do the job well - at a fraction of the cost they are great if you are on a budget.

• Use plenty of natural soap - soap opens up the fibres to allow the wool to felt, and the children find that so fun. Make sure you rinse the finished work in cold water and gently press the water from it, as soap can make the wool brittle over time.

• Slowly we go - take your time and enjoy the process felting is a process and not instant, the beauty of felting is you can go back to it and continue another day.

Have a go and enjoy felting and if you are a seasoned felter have a go with your feet if you haven’t already! You won’t regret it haha!

Peace and love to you all for a lovely weekend

K x