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Craft Tips for the Classroom
Cindy Groom Harry, an CHA Certified Professional Demonstrator (CPD) and kids' crafts expert, suggests the following tips to make teaching crafts fun and hassle-free:
- Show students a completed sample of the project at hand. Briefly explain the purpose of the project and how it will be made.
- Visualize each step of the project completely. Take note of any supplies that are not available in the classroom. Substitute unavailable supplies with similar items.
- Assemble and sort all project materials in advance to save time. Test glues and paints ahead of time to make sure that they are fresh.
- Create projects on paper plates or mats to ensure that desks stay clean.
- Make copies of patterns for children to cut out. To keep the pattern stationary, have children place a rolled piece of masking tape between the pattern and the surface to be cut. Cut around pattern and surface simultaneously.
- Use a glue gun set on low temperature and assist any students who are having trouble gluing materials to speed up assembly time of projects.
- Provide students with choices in color, shape, pattern and accents to personalize their creations.
- Plan a break or create one portion of the project each day, if completion takes longer than the time allocated for "Arts & Crafts" period.
- Prepare for students to take the project home. Locate bags, boxes or extra materials that may be needed to transport the project from the classroom, especially in the rain.
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"For my high school students with mental and physical disabilities, crafting is a means for expressing creativity, experiencing essential productivity, and particularly for focusing in therapeutic involvment. A bonus is the joy of well-deserved praise for the finished project."
Mrs. T., Memorial HS Sr. Campus
Victoria, TX
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