First, pick three colors of construction paper or cardstock for the weaving. Second, cut the paper into one inch wide strips using a paper cutter. Next, begin the weaving by laying six paper strips vertically on your background paper (I usually use a white piece of paper to really show off the colors but you could also use a contrasting color).
Use a glue stick to secure a small section of each strip to the top of the background paper. You don’t want to glue the whole strip down. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to weave! Once you’ve put just a dab of glue to hold the strips at the top, pick a color to weave across the placemat.
Explain to the students they’ll be going “over” and “under” as they weave. They will take the weaving paper over the top of some strips while lifting others and going under them. Since they only glued a little at the top of the vertical strips, they should be able to easily slide the weaving strip across.
Continue weaving until you have woven six paper strips across. Dab more glue in areas as needed to hold all the strips in place. Finally, have students cut any extra paper that’s hanging off the sides of their weaving. Laminate the placemat for an incredible Thanksgiving keepsake!