At-Home Activity: Star Stick

Published May 22nd, 2020
By Jessie Lotrecchiano,
Tagged with: at-home activity • remote learning • social and emotional learning • starstick

Seemingly no matter the scene, whether we’re sitting on a pine forest floor in the summer heat or gathered around a picnic table afterschool, weaving activities with children unfold in a familiar way.  

After an initial frenzy of cutting yarn, setting up projects and learning techniques, the group falls quiet. A rhythm begins as hands carry out their silent orders: over, under, around, turn; over, under around, turn.  Determined faces peer down over string and fingers, and out of the comfortable silence conversation begins to flow.  The cadence of our movements puts us at ease to speak, while the focus on our weavings lubricates our listening.  Stories told over weaving, whether shared with others or witnessed only by string and sky, seem to hold a unique potential for untangling our thoughts.  The elegant geometry of the weaving offers a kind of scaffolding and safe harbor for our minds.  

We hope you and your budding young fiber artists enjoy learning to make star sticks, and perhaps even find in them a little balm for the uncertainty of these times.  They can be tricky to learn at first, but persevere!  Soon you’ll have made an abundance of beautiful wall hangings and ornaments to share with friends and family.

Check out our Star Stick video on Instagram TV and YouTube!

Note: Each pdf below is 2 pages.