My three year old wants to learn how to knit...too young?

[DragonTush]

She will be four in a month and she is pretty dexterous but I'm not sure how to go about teaching her. I'm so new at it myself that I worry I'll teach her wrong or not have the patience to do it right. Are there special kids sized needles I could use? I don't think I'll get her to do any particualr project, obviously (she can't even read yet lol) but maybe a small scarf or dishcloth?

Anyone else teach their little ones to knit?

[KellyK]

An Irish waitress once told me that she learned to knit when she was three. I think if YOU cast on for her, she could learn the knit stitch, although it really depends on her attention span more than anything....

[Julie]

Lion makes very cute kids' needles with little bears on the end

I started teaching my DD when she was 4...we started with finger knitting to work on her manual dexterity. After she knit 458736923 little scarves we moved on to needles...she can cast on but sort of lost interest on the way to the knit stitch. (She's fiercely independent and gets mad when she can't master things right away -- we're working on that and will continue to work on that for years to come, I'm guessing.) I do believe it can be done if they really, really want to learn. :D

[margie]

If she wants to learn, I say, go for it!! Maybe she could sit in your lap and you could hold her hands while she holds the needles, and go through the motions with her. Chances are she just wants to see what is so cool about mom's new hobby!! Have fun!!

[hedgewick]

That's really cute that she wants to learn. My son will be 4 next week and he wants to learn too. He watches me do it while he is playing and wants to "join in". I give him my big plastic size 13 needles and a ball of cheap yarn and he "knits". It's very cute untill he unrolls half the ball on the floor and mommy has to roll it back up later when he gets bored.

[bluesol]

You should do your best to teach her. I learned when I was almost five. Twenty five years later I am still knitting. Always remember to have fun and save everything she knits.

[Cristy]

Good question b/c I'm in the same boat...my dd is 3 and a half and everytime I take out my knitting, she wants to do it too. I have kept her complacent by giving her small balls of yarn and she typically gets carried away with running with them through the house and forgets about the needle part...I keep thinking about finger knitting....

I personally think it would take a very attentive 3 or 4 year old but that doesn't mean that it can't happen. My dd amazes me at how she can pick things up but I don't think she could get knitting just yet...

If any of you other moms try and it works--let me know what you did...

[Debbie]

My Granddaughter just turned 6. For about a year, she has been doing the "around the back" part of knitting for me while I knit. ( in through the front door, around the back, through the window, off jumps jack) She tried a few times on her own but didn't really succeed till last weekend !!!! Now she is knitting on her own. She would only knit for a row, two at the most then off to something else and back again. Even my 3rd - 5th grade Kids Knitters take "lots of breaks".

[Anya]

Great picture, Debbie!

[Sara]

I cast on a few stitches to a pair of seldom used needles with leftover yarn. My 6yo sits on my lap and wraps the yarn while we knit together.