For those catching up, here are the first two posts in this series:
We often use a poem to teach kids to tie their shoes. It’s something about a rabbit going around a tree, and into a hole and coming up the other side. Kids love visuals like this. They love stories. They love humor.
The traditional poem to teach kids how to knit goes like this:
In through the front door
Once around the back
Peek through the window
And off jumps Jack!
I think it’s adorable. I love it. Like the rabbit going around the tree for tying shoes, Jack jumping off is the traditional rhyme for knitting.
Don’t feel like it’s the silver bullet, though. I’m going to be honest and say my kids didn’t get it.
“So this stitch was a front door and now it’s a window?”
“What?”
“Who is Jack? Is the needle Jack? Which needle? I thought that was the window. Is that the new door?”
They do love poetry, and get full doses of it, but they just haven’t caught on to this one. They’re not so much into Mother Goose as they are into Shel Silverstein. So we chose to use a story. I have no idea how this story got into my brain off the cuff, but my kids loved it and they remembered it, and really that’s what matters.
The robber goes into the bank
Grabs the gold
Walks out of the bank
Runs away
Then you can continue on with the story for the second row if you like.
Now the policeman goes into the robber’s hideout
Confiscates the gold
Leaves the robber’s hideout
Runs back to the police station to do paperwork.
Sure, it’s not cute and catchy. It’s not elegant and doesn’t rhyme. But the kids think it’s funny, therefore they remember it.
And that’s the goal.
Any 4 part story will do.
There are 4 parts to a knit stitch –
1)going through the stitch the correct direction
2)wrapping the yarn around the needle
3)pulling the yarn out through the stitch
4)pulling the new stitch off of the left needle
This parts does not change no matter if your child is “picking” or “throwing” (I pick as a knitter, but I have found it is easier to teach the kids to throw the stitch.) One of my kids is right handed and the other is left handed. They learned the same. It doesn’t change.
-The story could be a unicorn putting her horn into a tree stump and rescuing a fairy princess held captive by an evil troll by wrapping her around her horn and then sneaking off and running away with her.
-The story could be a sharp pointy monster going his secret cave to get a noodle snack, and then leaving his hideout to take over the world now that he has a full stomach.
-The story could be a boy going into a library, grabbing a book, leaving the library, and going home to read it all afternoon. (A mother can dream.)
-The story could be a kitten, sneaking into a mouse hole, grabbing a mouse, and then exiting and running off.
-The story could be a gold digger, mining in a stitch, finding some gold, leaving the tunnel/stitch, and bringing it to the bank.
Really, the sillier, and more elaborate you can make your story, the better. Pick a topic or character that will catch your child’s attention.
Make it ridiculous, or at the very least full of action or danger. Using a poem or a story breaks down the technicals of knitting into a language that the kids understand. It taps into their vast imagination which is their genius.
These are just a few examples of using stories and humor to teach knitting to kids. Do you have any examples of stories, or can you come up with any? I’d love to hear what your imagination comes up with!
Mom says
June 27, 2014 at 3:04 pmGreat ideas! Love this post.
Anonymous says
June 27, 2014 at 5:08 pmWell, I’m smiling ruefully here in Oregon.
I’m reminded why I’m stuck with crocheting and can’t conquer knitting!!! Makes me dizzy just reading about your kids learning. Maybe Silje can teach me some day.
I have knitted one item (just to prove that I was able to follow the “teach yourself to knit” directions, step by step!) but never again – is my thought!
My knitted thing is a 58″ X 36″ item – beautiful colors I love and beautiful yarn. But I never “got it” – you have no idea how I admire your life’s output, Gretchen! …including the knitting especially. When I go in the yarn shops here – on occasion your work is on the front cover – and the clerks do learn, of course, that one of their customers knows you and loves you!
I did conquer the “casting on” – even though it took about 5 days to do so.
Sharon
rebekka says
July 9, 2014 at 7:05 pmAhh! So good 🙂 I teach knitting to adults here and there, and the rhymes REALLY help them too!