| |
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:
- Replace messy liquid glues and hot glue guns with Glue Dots. Glue Dots are double sided dots of adhesive that bond instantly, require no drying time, are easy to use and non-toxic.
- It is important to keep desk and work areas organized and as clutter free as possible. The Get A Grip Organizers are safe,durable and inexpensive.
- To help children learn and remember things, put it into a song!
- Save the lids from yogert containers. Flip them over and use them to hold a small amount of white school glue. Have children use Q-tips to apply glue to their project.
- When painting with smaller children, cover their desk or table with plastic wrap and tape it down. Clean up is super fast and easy!
- Washed styrofoam egg crates make great paint wells for kids. They rinse clean under warm running water.
- 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.
|
|
"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
|
