I started finger knitting with Annie when she was 5. We practiced that for a year and then I started needle knitting when she was 6. I think first grade is a perfect age to start. I have taught a few kids to knit. I think the kids need to be excited about what they are making. It seems that many kids are more excited to knit a toy for themselves as their first project.
We've knitted simple rectangles, stuffed them, and glued or sewed felt features on them to turn them into owls, rabbits, dollies, cars, whatever the kids are excited about. I found this helped keep up the motivation. Another thing that worked for me was to keep the first project fairly short...kids this age seem to lose interest quickly. They prefer more instant gratification.
I've had success using the short bamboo needles with young children (the kind that are attached for knitting in the round). It seems the shorter bamboo needles are easier for little hands to maneuver and metal needles are too slippery for beginners. But some kids are confused by the connecting piece so I use regular bamboo needles with them. I guess that would be something I would experiment more with. Also, lighter colors and bulkier yarn seem easier for the kids to work with.
I always have the kids roll their yarn into balls. Sometimes I even buy glass jewels or marbles (like you would put in a vase or fish bowl) from the dollar store and let the kids roll these into their balls of yarn. As they knit, the jewels are exposed and the kids can keep the treasures. There seems to be something very soothing for the kids to roll a skein of yarn into a ball.
The very first thing I do is tell the children a story. I used the Enki Education story "The Gnomes and the Dragon". There is a dragon in the gnomes home and he is waiting for them to return home so he can have him some gnomes for lunch. When the gnomes return from tending the jewels in the depths of the Earth they are startled by the dragon who has fallen asleep in their Gnome Home. The gnomes decide that if they are really quiet they can get their jewels out of the house without being eaten . They tie a rope around their ankles so they can be pulled out if they need to. They go "in through the front door to the back, jump right around and grab your sack, slip through the window without a peep, hop on off in one big leap." After the gnomes do this several times and wake up the dragon, they realize they've knitted a blanket. The dragon chases them until he becomes sleepy and the gnomes use the blanket to cover the sleeping dragon and he never bothers them again...(that is until the purling story a year later) (of course you would tell a more detailed and magical version to the kiddos)
The children memorize this verse or one like it and then after a story has been told and the verse memorized, I show them the actual knitting while reciting the verse to help them remember the steps.
I'm sure there are many stories or verses available on-line or in knitting books for children, especially those books that take a holistic approach.
One could easily make up a sweet story for the children. Annie often creates a story and a verse of her own as she is knitting....I really must remember to write these down...
Here is another similar verse I found when I googled "knitting verse"
In through the front door
Around the back
Out through the window
And off jumps jack.
A Summary of Above
One important thing is to be sure to have a rest or sleep cycle between each step in the process.The steps being:
* Tell a short story using a knitting verse.
* Have the children draw or somehow artistically manipulate the story
* Have children write the verse. (by now they have it memorized)
* Show samples of knitting while they are rolling their skeins into balls.
* Start actual knitting using the verse as a reminder
