Arts & Crafts

Arts and Crafts for the End of the Year

Image by bookgrl via Flickr

Are arts and crafts on your list of things to do with your students?  One of my favorite arts and crafts project that incorporates literacy skills is making a memory book.  Each year I purchase a blank book for every student.  I encourage kids to write about their favorite classroom memories over the past school year.  This is a wonderful activity for all ages and ability levels.  Students can just draw pictures or write complete pages about their favorite highlights from the year.  Students as well as their parents and their families will cherish a memory book from school for years to come.  There is also something special about authentic student work.  There are many different ways students can make a memory book, but when students can use arts and crafts supplies and their imagination, they can make an amazing book.

Here are some examples of sentence starters that I used for my first grade memory book:

My favorite color is ____________.

My favorite math activity is ___________.

My favorite book that I can read is ______________.

I like to _________________________________.

Theses are just several examples of sentence starters.

You can also choose many other themes and create a variety of books.  In years past, I have helped students create books to summarize science and social studies units.

Here are some of the other supplies that you may need for creating a beautiful book.

• crayons
• markers
• colored pencils
• stickers
• stencils

Let the creativity begin and help students make a memorable book that will help create a keepsake book that will be read for years to come.

Stop by www.k12schoolsupplies.net to get these arts and crafts supplies and stock up on many more.  We strive to provide you a wide selection of teaching supplies that meet your needs.

Arts and Crafts for this Holiday Season

Arts and crafts can add special meaning to any holiday celebration.  I know that the holiday season is fast approaching and every year, I look for for special arts and crafts projects for my kids to complete.  There are many great winter and seasonal activities that kids of all ages can do by themselves or with help.  We do many different projects over the course of the year, but I like to make the seasonal/holiday crafts special.  Often times an ornament or holiday project will be kept as a family memento.

Since the students get their fall pictures taken at the beginning of the year, I try to include them in at least one holiday art project.  Some years I have had students include their school pictures on the front of their Thanksgiving books, or I will use on a snowflake Christmas ornament.

Sometimes it can be challenging to include these activities during the instructional day.  I believe that kids need the opportunity to color, cut, and paste.  So, I might add several projects to the language arts centers, or give the kids a chance to work on arts and crafts activities when they have finished their work.  When you know what projects you want to do, you can determine when would be the most appropriate time to work on them.

Another opportunity to include seasonal arts and crafts projects is during class parties.  We typically have a Halloween party, a Thanksgiving feast, and a Christmas party.  We often  include an art project for a party activity.  We might make a hand-print bat for Halloween, a pine cone turkey for Thanksgiving, and a snowflake ornament for Christmas.

Do you have seasonal or holiday arts and crafts projects that you enjoy doing with your students?  As always, we would love to hear your comments.