There could be a fishy theme to lessons at Ballarat Specialist School after 101 crocheted octopuses were donated to the school’s junior pupils.
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Knitters from Winter Woollies for Ballarat used their nimble fingers to crochet the cute cephalopods that will take up residence in classrooms.
Librarian Angela Fry said each classroom from the kindergarten and the junior school would receive two or three octopus which could accompany the class on excursions, be used as a writing prop, to have a focus on the letter O and number 8, to use as reading buddies, and to help calm anxious pupils.
The eight legs of each octopus are made from different textured yarn and material, with many of the school’s pupils finding comfort in tactile materials.
Judging from the excitement of pupils who got a first look at the bags of octopuses on Wednesday, the bright octopus will be welcome classroom additions.
“We hope it will help with their learning in the classroom. They will be used as reading buddies and classroom buddies to help with writing and numeracy,” Ms Fry said.
We hope it will help with their learning in the classroom. They will be used as reading buddies and classroom buddies to help with writing and numeracy.
- Angela Fry, Ballarat Specialist School
Sandra Knight from Winter Woollies for Ballarat said the idea for the donation came after she made an octopus for a young autistic boy.
“I make a lot of toys and a lady who bought toys from me has an autistic son. We talked about ways we could possibly help him to stay calm and she said he liked texture, so I made an octopus using different types of yarn for the legs … and they worked a treat.”
She also donated some to prep teachers at Stawell Primary School and they were an instant hit, particularly among children with special needs.
From there she mentioned it to her knitting group and the project began with no particular number of octopuses in mind.
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“We usually make things like blankets, beanies, scarves and fingerless gloves so this was something totally different,” Ms Knight said.
“We didn’t really set a number, we talked about 50 then it just kept going and in the last couple of weeks we’ve been hanging out to get 100.”
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