Maths is such an important part of any sewing, knitting, crochet or craft project but because Maths is used in context a lot of children, a) don’t realise they are doing maths. b) that they are learning valuable Math skills while doing a practical subject.
Making Math taught in this context is less daunting and makes more sense to children who learn in a more tactile and kinesthetic way.
- How many stitches?
- How many rows?
- How many balls of wool
- How many hours did it take?
- How many yards of fabric did you need?
- How many metres of thread did you use?
- How many buttons do you need?
- What are your measurements?
- How much hem to allow?
- What is the seam allowance?
I could go on!
We held our first taster session for children a couple of weeks ago and I’m sure the children were unaware of the amount of numbers we were pushing on them…
For some children this is the best way to some aspects of maths as it can be daunting to take in.
It’s not all about adding or subtracting, multiplication or division though, but knowing how many stitches you started off with, how many you have dropped and so realising how many stitches then need to picked is essential to complete a knitted product.
When calculating how much fabric is needed, there are several things you need to bear in mind, such as, is there a pattern repeat and how deep is it as this will affect the length needed.
And the same with embellishments, these will need to be calculated and so on…
On paper it may appear daunting and take the fun out of a sewing or knitting project but usually the maths is not realised as an issue, children and adults approach it as a creative project rather than a mathematical equation.
Making the Math element, less daunting, enjoyable and applied in context.
Keep calm and get counting
Karen
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