In Person School Visits
School grounds and woodworking skills
In the school grounds, pupils will look at extending/developing a sensory garden. Pupils will design and make various wooden items for the school grounds/sensory garden. This could include bird/bat boxes for a wildlife habitat. In a sensory garden pupils will be divided into groups and explore the five senses, sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Using their spinning, weaving and woodworking skills that they have learned, they can design and build structures in the garden to demonstrate an experience of these senses.
Spinning on the Donegal Wheel
Children will learn about the traditional craft of spinning and weaving. They will learn how the wheel is made and about the wood used. Children help to assemble the wheel, see how it works and have a turn treadling the wheel themselves. The children will get hands-on with various fibers, wool, flax and other material. Each pupil makes their own drop spindle (tool used for spinning fiber). Pupils partner up and with good teamwork make a thread. One pupil spinning and the other drawing out the thread.
Weaving Donegal Tweed
Pupils have a look at a table loom and learn how it works including the parts and terms used in weaving e.g.: heddle bar, reed, warp and weft and different weaves/patterns e.g.: herringbone, houndstooth. Using a board loom pupils put on their own warp and using a variety of weft fiber weave a piece of material e.g.: a wall hanging or headband.
Spinning Wheels 