When my kindergarten class began studying science and social studies, their craft class on Friday was taken away, much to my utter sadness. However, it was reinstated for the month of December to create decorations for the seasonal party. My spirits were lifted once more — the children would cultivate their creativity!
Of course, finding Christmas crafts on the Internet is like trying to choose what to eat at The Cheesecake Factory — the menu is so overwhelmingly large that somewhere you get lost amid the factory combinations and the appetizer salads.
No matter though — I knew roughly what kind of things I wanted to make, and it was all about using my head (and the supplies in the closet at school).
On week one, the kiddies and I made wreaths. I cut the center out of paper plates and spent the first of my craft classes having the children glue different shades of green paper all over the plate. When they had finished that, I allowed them to use Elmer’s glue (mistake: very messy) to put on different color sparkles.
Afterward, I used a hot glue gun to attach a red bow to each “leafy” ring.
It was a relatively successful craft, although the gems didn’t stay on that well with the glue and by the end I had lots of wreaths with dried glue dots all over them. Oh well.
Week two we decided to make snowmen, which were relatively simple. I simply traced three different sized circles on white poster board, had the kids glue them together and color as they pleased.
A few things happened that day — one girl had a meltdown and started bawling because her first snowman was “ugly” and I had run out of paper. This prompted a Korean teacher to hurry and make her a new template.
The children sang Frosty the Snowman while they worked on their frozen friends, which I thought was really cute. After that came Santa Claus is Coming to Town, which was also fun. Then I saw what some students had written on the backs of their snowmen, where I told them to pen their names.
I thought this was funny, because it sounded like an advertisement for a snowman movie.
This was a little creepy and a lot funny. I realized he was trying to say that his snowman was “coming to town,” but my mind couldn’t help but wander straight to snow demons with razor-sharp teeth who try to stab you with their carrot nose. Creepy.
Our third craft I decided to make a communal work of art, since we were pressed for time. I made four cones out of poster board paper, then covered them in green tissue to make them look like Christmas trees. The kids got glue sticks, sequins, feathers and free reign to decorate.
All in all, the room turned out beautifully decorated.
Evan’s room looked fantastic too — his kids made snowflakes, gingerbread men and elves. The only downfall for him was making the mistake of putting glitter on the snowflakes, aka the most difficult thing to clean up ever. He spent a good half hour vacuuming up the itty bitty sparkles.
I may try to sneak a few more crafts in before I leave :)
Confessions of Two Expats 