What is a dream catcher?
Dream catchers originate from the ancient legends of the indigenous people of present-day North America. You can tell from the name what it is - it's supposed to be a kind of net that catches dreams. You usually hang the dream catcher above your bed. The function of the dream catcher, according to their mythology, is to catch all the bad dreams, so that only the good dreams reach the sleeper. Exciting, isn't it? It's spiritual and a lot of fun to explore. It's easy to make your own dream catcher for kids, Hey Kiddo explains how!
How dream catchers came to be
According to legend, it was Granny Spider who spanned the universe and created the dream catcher. She wanted to help people who had nightmares sleep better, so she collected branches and feathers. She bent the branches into a circle to represent all the people on Earth. Inside the circle, she stretched a net that would catch all the nightmares. In the morning, when the sun rose, the sun would burn away the nightmares caught in the net. If there was still any nightmare left in the net, it turned into morning dew that slowly dripped down the feathers and back to earth.
Dream catchers not only have the function of catching nightmares, they are also very beautiful to decorate your child's room with AND it is a fun activity to do with your babysitter. It's great fun to create your own dreamcatcher, because you can put your personal stamp on it. There are no limits to your creativity! You choose the colour of the thread, beads, feathers, etc.
Making dream catchers for children: step-by-step
What you need to make your children's dream catcher is yarn or thread, beads, feathers - and a mobile ring (or something else that you can shape into a circle). You can find this at your local craft store. Don't forget to compare best in test products. There are of course several ways to make a dreamcatcher, but this is one of the easier and more child-friendly methods:
- Start by tying a knot with the yarn on the mobile ring and then wrap the yarn around the ring until the whole ring is covered with yarn. Make sure you squeeze the yarn together when you do this so that the whole ring is really covered.
- Once you get back to the first knot, you can tie the ends together and make a large loop for hanging.
- Now it's time to make the web. Tie the yarn or thread to the ring and pull it back and forth across the ring to form a spider web as shown below. While you're doing this step, you can thread beads onto the thread you're using.
- Then cut about 8 strands of yarn into different lengths. String on beads and attach feathers to the end of the threads. Then tie the other end of the threads along the bottom of the ring.
- Hang your dream catcher. Done!
