Blogger / 1 May, 2019 / Nanny Anita

God’s Eye Craft

If your children has ever been to summer camp chances are they have made a God’s eye before. And with summer camp season just around the corner I thought I would do it with my charges. I must admit when I worked in summer camps I never made them. Making scoobies and friendship bracelets were the rag then. If I ever went back to one then I probably would take this craft with me. It’s repetitive and therefore easy to pick up. Plus it is a good one to make sure down time or in front of the tv. YC and EC were making theirs while I finished reading The Little Princess to them.

Make sure you follow my crafts for older kids on Pinterest for more ideas. Don’t forget to save the pin for later.

To make a God’s eye you will need:

• 2 sticks/craft sticks/ toothpicks
• Wool or embroidery thread

Start by making your sticks into an X and binding them together. If little ones are doing this you can always secure them into place with glue.

The pattern that you are going to make is wrap behind and then cross.

We held are frames so that the sticks pointed at the 3, 6, 9, and 12 of a clock. Starting at stick at position 3 (it doesn’t have to be this one that you start at, but we found it easier) wrap the wool behind the stick. It should go top to bottom.

Then cross it over the middle to left side of the stick in position 12. Once we had done that we rotated the frame around clockwise by a quarter turn. You stick, which was at 12, should now be at 3, and you repeat the movement again; wrap behind and then cross.

As you build up your design make sure the layers lie next to each other and not on top of each other.

When we wanted to change colours we simply tied off the old one to the new wool and carried on.

I did have a go with toothpicks and embroidery thread, but it is incredibly fiddle to do.

The meaning of God’s eye

As with a lot of things like the God’s eye, dream catchers, worry dolls, piñatas, etc the true meaning of them is often over looked or forgotten. When I’m showing my charges these types of crafts I think it is really important for them to know where they came from and what their significance is.

The God’s eye originated in what is now Western Mexico by the Huichol people. Other communities in Northern Mexico also had their own version. Across all the different variations they all were pretty consistent in the what they symbolised. The four different points are meant to represent the four elements, and the centre is a portal between the spirit and mortal world. When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s they gave them the name “ojos de dios” or the eyes of God.

Peace reigns at bedtime! They’re busy making their God’s eye, while I read.

If you enjoyed these God’s eye craft be sure to check out my Native American headress and worry dolls.

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