If you’re teaching your child to sew or running a sewing class one of the most essential skills you’ll need to know is how to thread a needle with kids. And how to get kids to thread their needle fairly quickly and as stress free as possible.
I always try and get my students at first, to thread their own needles without using a needle threader. It’s a great skill to have and kids get such a BUZZ out of being able to thread their own needle. Truth be told kids are amazing at threading their own needles.
The just a needle and thread method
Make sure the end of your thread is cleanly cut. It’s really difficult to try and put fuzzy thread through the eye of a needle.
Also you only need to hold a tiny tip of the thread between your fore finger and thumb when you’re threading. If your thread is longer it will be much softer and harder to thread onto the needle. Some people say you push the needle onto the thread to thread it…others that you push your thread through the eye of the needle to thread…you choose which ever way works for you!
But what happens if a child is having difficulty threading their own needle? Before I answer that question I just want to say one thing: for me enjoying their sewing is the most important part of the class for kids and I don’t really want kids getting frustrated trying to thread the needle. So here are a few easy ways to get your kids threading their needles.
Using a needle threader
There are a few options here. The old fashioned wire threader, which is good if you only want to use it a few times…they invariably break but…they do have a rather nostalgic feeling for me as they were the only needle threader I knew as a child! You can try something a little sturdier like the this LoRan needle threader is great.
The folded piece of paper needle threader
Now if you ever had a class of kids all needing help threading their needles at the very same time and you don’t have any needle threaders around you’re going to LOVE this one. A piece of paper about an inch long and half an inch wide folded length ways in half is your life saving needle threader!
Just pop the tip of the thread in between the folded paper and thread the paper through the eye of the needle. GENIUS.
And one last tip
It’s my just-in-case tip. Sometimes when I’m running a workshop the last 15 minutes are frantic. Everyone is rushing to finish (usually a second project) so to make sure things run super smoothly I have some thread needles all ready to go to give to kids to make finishing up even quicker.
Here’s a quick youtube video.
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