Pupils in South Tyneside are picking up knitting skills thanks to a new instructional website.
Year six children at Jarrow Cross Primary School in Borough Road are now taking up this nifty hobby after South Shields arts venue The Customs House made a new educational platform online.
Shields Gazette reports that the nimble-fingered youths will soon enjoy knitting workshops, after ch-arted.co.uk taught them the basics.
It offers interactive tools for the kids, helping them to develop key skills and increase children aged six and above's interest in art and design.
By following a programme the trial group were able to learn together, with encouragement from teachers and parents.
Jarrow Cross pupils were given the opportunity to test out the website's Once Upon A Time resource, which aims to educate children about storytelling through the use of textiles.
This includes easy to follow patterns and instructions, which are provided as resources, allowing the group to knit a wide variety of characters and puppets.
After using them as part of the stories, kids can then play with them and make up their own tales, aiding creative skills too.
The initial sessions have proved incredibly popular, so much so that headteacher Susan McBeth has chosen to make it a regular event through a series of weekly workshops.
She told the newspaper: "The taster was extremely successful and we already have a group of children, parents and grandparents who are keen to carry on knitting."
The scheme was originally launched back in autumn 2011 by The Customs House in partnership with ShooFly and has received backing from prestigious organisations such as Arts Council England, CCE, Creative Partnerships and North and South Tyneside Councils.
It is now regularly updated with lesson plans, ideas for classroom-based activities and interactive educational tools, designed to engage young people from key stage one to four.
