Thanksgiving Crafts Projects that Allow Children To Create their OWN projects not Copy an Adults
Making Thanksgiving crafts together with kids is a great way to spend time together plus allows the children to gain important skills.
One of the negative aspects of lots of the tradtional crafts done with kids is the copycat mode they are in. Traditional arts and crafts projects that make the children follow an adults model.
This removes all creativity from the activity, allows for no thinking and problem solving skills, thereby reducing the possibility of gaining real self respect and self esteem.
The way that Educational Crafts is done incorportes some vital skills like, problem solving, thinking, creativity and most importantly, helps develop a good self esteem.
To give you an idea of how one can move away from copycat arts and crafts to Educational Arts and Crafts I am going to share with you an educational arts and crafts activity you can do with children for Thanksgiving.
(plus some links to more activities)
In my e course Learning Through Crafts I discuss the various categories that the many different activities go under.
A most enjoyable category is called cafeteria style. This is arts and crafts that has an end result (as opposed to just process only art, where the art activity itself is the desired outcome) but allows children to choose how to finish it “cafeteria style”.
It is really quite simple to explain the way cafeteria style crafts works. The children get a basic template or object that will be their finished project. They then get to decorate this object to the best of their ability based on the cafeteria like materials they are presented with.
Art is taken to a higher level when children are given choices when creating art as it adds all kind of skills.
It is from a large selection of materials that the children pick the materials they want to use and then make their craft with what they chose.This encourages initiaitive takiing and independence.
It is common for them to have to solve difficulties that arise. Will the ribbon fit around the object they are decorating or should they use many small pieces instead of one large to fill up a space.
Creativity is of course at the forefront, as they are given leeway to create, which makes their self esteem shoot up.
Allow me to share with you an activity using one category of Educational Arts and Crafts
Since Thanksgiving is a Holiday where we learn about Pilgrims and Indians it is a wonderful time of year for the children to do crafts that are Indian related.
One idea is to make objects that the Indians themselves used.
As a Thanksgiving aactivity if you were planning on having the children recreate some Indian pow-wow then it would be a natural fit to make some Indian drums.
Step #1
Give the children an empty container large enough to use as a drum.
Empty oatmeal containers are really ideal, but any other large enough cylinder like empty coffee containers work as well.
Step #2
There are lots of different papers and materials that can be given to choose what to cover the container with. If you are limited in materials, give as much choice as possible.
You can however,. offer them, shiny paper, wallpaper pieces, materials, tissue paper etc to completely cover the container.
MAke sure the covering is glued on well before proceeding to the next step.
Step #3
Learning about the many art materials available will make it easeir for you to present lots of choices. Pieces of ribbon, yarn, rick rack, sequins, string, feathers, pieces of leather, small cut up shapes of shiny colors all can contribute to the decoration of their drums.
The younger the child is the less thought she will put into placing materials on her project. Older children, however, do spend time deciding on material placement.
Covering the tops of the drums is the final step in the drum making.
Step #4
If you still have the covers from the oatmeal container or coffee can you can use those.
If not, you will need to get some sort of heavy gauge plastic, like a heavy balloon, thick plastic or an old beach ball.
Stretch this material over the top and secure with a rubber band. (this make it look more realistic)
Have your own Indian pow-wow by having the children use their palms or sticks on the drums.
This is only one way of using the cafeteria style in making art with children.
If youd like you can even make creative turkeys with the kids that is an old traditional copycat crafts made anew.
You can also experiment with lots of Thanksgiving Indian clay utensils the Indians used to make to use on a daily basis.
Whatever you do make with the children just have Happy Thanksgiving and be sure to have the children be aware of how much they actually have to be grateful for.
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