Scarf for Friends is Easy to Make

With tweens, it’s all about relationships. For girls between the ages of 8 and 12, the opinions of their peers can be more important than anything else. It might define how girls value themselves and how they perceive their fit into the world.

Parents should never underestimate the effect of peer pressure on adolescent girls. A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as reported in its Family Guide at http://www.family.samhsa.gov, advises that children who believe they don’t fit in can feel lonely, excluded, sad and even sick.

Furthermore, when lonely kids do make friends, their low self-esteem can make them more vulnerable to negative peer pressure and may cause them to try drugs, alcohol or tobacco to please their new friends.

On the other hand, peer pressure can have a positive effect on girls, too. Parents can encourage their daughters to participate in organizations such as Girl Scouts of America, which teaches girls skills that build confidence. Church or synagogue youth groups will provide adolescents with mentally healthy activities and help them make friends with similar values. Athletic activities and team sports help girls boost their self-esteem and form friendships.

Being around a tween can feel like being on a roller coaster. Emotional ups and downs occur so quickly, a parent can hardly keep up. Encouraging your tween to engage in mentally and physically healthy activities will help her focus on developing into a well-rounded person, rather than allowing others to define her self-worth.

With the coming holiday season, girls will be looking for gift ideas for their friends. I found this great-looking, easy-to-make scarf in the November/December edition of American Girl magazine. Use inexpensive, soft yarns in solid and multiple colors for each scarf. Mix up the color combinations so the scarves aren’t identical.

Supplies you will need:

_Mohair and acrylic yarn blend in solid and multicolors.

_Scissors.

Take the end of the yarn and hold it at your waist. With the other hand, loosely wrap the yarn ball around the back of your neck and take it back down to your waist. Cut the piece of yarn with your scissors. You will use this piece to measure each length of yarn in your scarf.

Cut up to 30 pieces of the solid-colored yarn. Work on a flat surface, rolling out the yarn as you go, matching up the ends. You decide how thick you want the scarf to be.

When you have the scarf as thick as you want it, cut about a dozen pieces of yarn in a contrasting color the same length as the rest. Lay half of them under the scarf and half of them on top of the scarf.

Cut seven lengths of yarn about 6 inches long and double knot them around different sections of the scarf to hold it together.

Trim the ends of the knotted pieces.

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(c) 2007, Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio).

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PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): kidskrafts

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