How to Spin Cotton, Simple Instructions

Cotton spinning
Instructions for ginning cotton, and finger and spindle spinning. A nice hands-on activity. by Louise Meyer

Supplies needed: 1 cotton boll per 6-10 students

Pass one entire cotton boll with husk and seeds in tack around table seating 6-10 students/ discuss feel, weight, geographical origin, climatic conditions, growth, etc.

Gently pull all cotton lint with seeds from the husk; pull apart into as many parts as there are students sharing it; giving each student a portion with 2-4 seeds in it, touch, guess number of seeds hiding inside the cotton lint/ etc. Ask each student to remove/pluck out the seeds. Explain to spread apart the cotton lint from seeds to make them as clean (bald) as possible. Discuss what weighs more,the seeds or the cotton? What are the seeds used for? What is the cotton used for?

Full description at Africancraft.com.