Felted Sorting Balls

The boys and I made these beautiful felt balls from merino wool roving (Purchased from the FeltEvolution Etsy Shop) to be used with sorting bowls. This toy is inspired by Waldorf Education, which insists upon using toys handmade from natural objects such as wood, wool, and sea shells.

The making of these balls was pretty easy once I figured out a good system of doing it. I started by cutting 1.5 - 2 inch chunks of roving, with some small strips ready to patch inevitable cracks in the balls.

I used a kettle to heat some very hot water and put some into a ball near the sink. Then I added a tint bit of natural dish detergent to a clumo of wool and gently formed it into a fluffly, loose ball. I slowly added hot water onto the ball as I continued to work it into a more solid ball.

I found that the ball would get very soapy to the point I couldn't roll it in my hand. When this would happen, I would put the ball under cold running water and then roll the ball some more. I would repeat the process of alternating rolling the ball with hot soapy water and with cold running water until the ball was well felted and very hard. If there were cracks, I would gently cover the ball in loose roving, get it soapy and felt it on by rolling the ball. Once I was satisfied withe the ball, I rinsed it well in cold water the put it on a towel to dry for at least a day.

My toddler enjoyed felting as well. Although he didn't actually make any balls, it was fun to see what kinds of shapes he would end up with.

I made a small drawstring bag to store the balls in using some owl fabric I had and lined it with an old pillow case.  The bowls I purchased from someone who made them to sell on Etsy (AlmostCrunchy Waldorf Sorting Bowls). Each bowl was hand painted with 2-4 coats of AP certified non-toxic acrylic paint in the traditional colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) then coated with a (handmade) blend of Organic Olive Oil & (local) Beeswax. The colors of the bowls are beautiful and vibrant, and the size is perfect for his small hands.

These sorting bowls and balls should provide hours of imaginative and creative play while helping develop the following important skills:

• Color identification
• Sorting
• Stacking
• Fine Motor Skill Development
• Counting, Adding, Subtracting