How should I plan for teaching a textiles course for 7-10 year olds?

Plan your lessons/hands on class participation and don’t stress!

I used to teach a group of kids animal husbandry and poultry science years ago.

Kids are not into rigid protocol, the most importnat thing is to make each session FUN!

Maybe do tye dying, and flower pounding.

Two really fun things kids love!

Gather flowers and leaves that are colorful and lay them out on material of your choice and cover with wax paper on a hard surface. THe kids then pound the flowers onto the material with hammers and the effect is really cool!

Okay..I’m going off on a tangent…haha

Just come up with the ideas you want to share, stay flexible and have fun!

The only advice I can give is to give instructions clearly with explanations in simple language. Allow them to see the end product but don’t show them everything at once. Do things in small steps. And remember to wear aprons! ha ha!
7–10 year olds are the best… I teach that age group!
If it’s 2.5 hours long, I’d factor in one or two breaks or they’ll get angry and irritated.
Good luck!

keep it practical, not too much theory, going by their age….good luck!!

Our arts teacher showed us examples of the end result before starting the lesson. It helps people get a sense of the goal. Some of the children may never have seen any examples of what you are about to teach them before.

Then, show them how to do it. That way, they know the steps involved before they start. Then let them do it.

Above all, know that your patience will be tested. You may be experienced, but they are not. The challenge with teaching anything to a group is that they move at different paces. Some will pick it up quickly, and there is always the chance that some have no interest and don’t want to be there at all. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow.

I taught mini-University.

For each days lesson:
Choose one key idea.
Design a related practical hands-on task and make it fun and memorable
but in a way that they will learn the concept and remember it.

They could probably do some basic weaving…. and certainly some felting of wool. I like the tie-dying idea.

When a friend of mine taught the same class, one thing she did was have each student take a long, wide sheet of paper and paint a pattern on it. I don’t know how this fit into the course; I just saw them hanging all over her apartment and asked her about them.

If you have time, visit a couple of Cub Scout or other youth group meetings and get some tips and ideas. There are hundreds of craft site online, so no end of ideas there.