Weave a Basket or Net
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What you will learn
- 1Choose flexible weaving materials and gather them only where it is allowed
- 2Weave a small basket with spokes and an over-under weave
- 3Explain how to tie a simple square net with evenly spaced overhand knots
- 4Name camp uses for a basket and a net
Mini Lesson
On a long stay at camp, you need ways to carry things. A small basket can hold food or kindling. A net can carry firewood or hang gear off the ground. People have woven baskets and nets from plants for thousands of years. In Grade 4 you made cordage from plants. Now you will weave with flexible materials, with a grown-up nearby.
🌿 The Wild Way (weave a small basket)
- GATHER WITH CARE: collect long grass, reeds or thin, bendy shoots, or bring cord. Only gather where it is allowed - check with your grown-up. The adult does any cutting.
- KEEP IT BENDY: materials that bend without cracking are best. Dry stems can be soaked in water for a while to soften them.
- SPOKES IN A CROSS: lay a few stiff stakes, called spokes, across each other like a plus sign. Hold or tie the center tight.
- OVER AND UNDER: take a long, thin weaver and pass it over one spoke, under the next, over, under, all the way around.
- PUSH IT DOWN: after each row, push the weaving down tight against the last row so there are no big gaps.
- TURN IN THE ENDS: when the basket is tall enough, bend each spoke end down and tuck it into the weave beside the next spoke.
A simple square net
- A TOP LINE: tie a length of cord between two trees or along a stick, about waist height.
- HANG THE CORDS: hang several cords of the same length from the top line, the same distance apart.
- KNOT THE NEIGHBORS: tie each cord to the cord beside it with an overhand knot, all at the same height.
- NEXT ROW: move down and tie the next row of knots, using the same spacing so every mesh is the same size, until the net is big enough.
- USE IT: a net can carry firewood, hold gear off the wet ground, or keep food bags together.
Only gather plants where it is allowed, and only take a little from each place - check with your grown-up. Your grown-up does any cutting with a knife. Never use plants you don’t know: some can sting, scratch or cause a rash. Tell your grown-up if a stem gives you a splinter or a scratch.
Words to know
weave
To pass strips or cords over and under each other to make something.
e.g. We wove a small basket from long grass.
spoke
A stiff stake that the weaving goes around, like the frame of the basket.
e.g. My basket had nine spokes in a cross.
weaver
The long, bendy strip that goes over and under the spokes.
e.g. I tucked in a new weaver when the first one ran out.
over-under
The weaving pattern of going over one spoke, then under the next.
e.g. Over-under, over-under, all the way around.
overhand knot
The simplest knot: make a loop and pass the end through it.
e.g. Each part of the net was held by an overhand knot.
mesh
The open spaces between the cords of a net.
e.g. The mesh was small enough to hold the firewood.
🧠 Survivor’s Trick: give your basket an odd number of spokes, such as nine. Add one short extra spoke to your cross. Then each new row goes over the spokes the last row went under, and the weave locks together. For a net, use a small stick as a spacer so every knot lands the same distance apart.
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