I just finished teaching a class on Friday afternoons to first- through third-graders at my daughter’s school.

Fisheries Supply was kind enough to donate the rope we used for the class, so everybody had a nice ten-foot length of line to work with. Special thanks to the good folks at Fisheries.

I taught these kids how to tie a few basic knots that, really, every adult ought to know: round turn and two half-hitches, bowline, figure-eight, and double-overhand. They learned several others, as well, but since I didn’t always have the same students from week to week, I tried to make sure everybody could tie those four.

Some of these kids really picked this up quickly. Others, I think, just liked the class because they got to play with rope!

One first grader even managed an eye splice in three-strand rope. I showed her what to do, but she did all the work. Her dad was in the US Navy, so I figured I better send her home with something really impressive.

Oh, I also learned a few rope magic tricks to keep them interested. That worked pretty well. Any time the class started to get out of hand, I could just gather them all together by telling them that I was about to demonstrate the secret behind one of my tricks. Sneaky!