Needle felted loose parts are a lovely tactile resource for children to use within their play. These rainbow felted hearts with numbers 1-10 are great when used alongside numicon and other natural resources and loose parts on a play tray - adding in another sensory element with different textures and weights. They are SO easy to make, simultaneously calming and stress busting as you focus on producing something achievable with a repetitive stabbing movement to get rid of any internal angst!
This blog post will give you some step by step images and instructions for how to make your own needle felted hearts, as well as an accompanying video to demonstrate and a list of resources you will need in order to make your own felt hearts with numbers...
How to make Needle Felted Number Hearts for Loose Parts
To make needle felted hearts, you will need:
(NB some of these links are affiliate links, which will not cost you any more to buy but I may earn commission on qualifying purchases)
Would you like to watch a quick step by step video of how to make these needle felt hearts first?
If you would like more info on the desk shown, pop over to my blog post: ikea flisat skadis pegboard desk hack)
How to make rainbow needle felt hearts with numbers
Roll up your roving wool to the size of the space you are fitting it into and then place it inside your template. Push down.
Start to 'needle' the roving wool straight up and down, using a barbed needle. Do this continuously all over - you will start to see the wool becoming more compact and less fluffy...
Once you have spent a good amount of time needling one side, remove the template and carefully peel the wool away from the sponge foam, using the needle to help.
Turn the heart over and place it back inside the template.
Start to needle the other side using the continuous up and down method as before.
Once your heart looks and feel compact you may remove it from the template to work on the edges.
Needle straight into the kiss of the heart first, to define the dip properly, followed by the edges. To create a more rounded, 3D shape to your heart, needle around the edges at a 45 degree angle...
Check your felted heart is firm in all areas using your barbed needle. If you wish to add numbers, use a thin twine of roving wool and carefully needle it into your felted heart. You can keep adding extra wool on top to make your numbers more noticeable...
Tadaaa!
Congratulations, you have now made numbered felted hearts.
If you can cope with the hearts but the numbers are a step too far, why not cheat with these squirty fabric paints instead?
Of course you could always skip the needle felting and buy the felted hearts online here instead, if you want to use them for loose parts play.
How can you use needle felted number hearts in play?
Having these hearts available for children to choose independently during child-led, open ended play without a pre-determined learning outcome can naturally lead to number work as children may count the items in and out of a pot, or whilst sharing during small world play.
Here are some other ideas for using DIY felted hearts:
Transient art
small world play
sorting and matching
size ordering
weights and measures
role play shop play
fine motor skills
self registration
kindness tokens
sensory play
within heuristic play
scooping, filling and pouring
(Let me know if you have any other ideas and I will add them to the list!)
If you're looking for more play ideas to keep you occupied whilst at home, why not have a look at my post ' 60+ play ideas for when you're stuck at home', or, 19 tuff tray ideas for open ended play. Don't forget to follow me on facebook and instagram to keep up to date with my latest daily play activities.
More home made project ideas here:
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