sewing or lacing cards

Here's a fun craft that my Wednesday night preschool class enjoys. It requires a little advance preparation, but it is easy to do and fun for a class or for your own children.

You will need heavy paper or craft foam, scissors, a hole punch, yarn, glue, and something to hold a puddle of glue.

Cut a simple shape from the heavy paper or craft foam. Cookie cutters are good inspiration!
With your hole punch, make evenly spaced holes all around the shape. Be sure to make the holes far enough in from the edge so that they won't tear when lacing.

Guesstimate how much yarn will be needed to go around the shape, and always leave a little extra! If you have a symmetrical shape, you can do half of it, then double that amount. Cut the yarn.

Saturate the ends of the yarn with glue, about 1" or a little more. This will stiffen them and make them easier for little hands to manage getting through the holes. Hang the yarn to dry someplace where the ends won't touch each other or anything else. Up to this point is all you need to do to prepare.
I always let the children lace or sew their cards any way they like - running stitch, over the edge, across the shape (though that takes a lot of yarn) or any combination of stitches. For older children, you could add beads or buttons to the mix.
It's nice if the ends of the yarn come out at the top, to make a loop for hanging. But the kids are always proud, no matter how it turns out!