Fall 2008

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3Rs Crafts

by Larraine Roulston

Crafts in school are designed to develop fine motor skills and at the same time, create a pleasing piece of artwork. In fact, most primary teachers have a shelf with empty egg cartons and paper toilet roll cylinders ready for such a planned project. If you haven’t already done so in the past, begin this year by going beyond the obvious crafts, and ask everyone in the class to start collecting a variety of clean, unwanted items for The 3Rs Craft Box.

Suitable items to Recycle include: bread tabs, corks, springs from pens, any part of packaging (even cut out pictures or letters), binder coils, bits of ribbon/wool/string/fabric, Styrofoam, onion bags, steel rings, broken elastic bands, hooks, snaps and bubble wrap. Encourage parents to become involved with a written request for materials, and get children thinking about what they would like to make as they see the collection accumulate. Once a sufficient amount of otherwise useless, and most likely non-recyclable stuff has been gathered, group similar objects together for students to view. At The 3Rs Craft Box debut, announce that the next art class will begin by making a selection from these objects to create an original work of art. If a student is completely stumped, suggest a Junk Robot or offer a piece of stiff paper to make a 3D picture.

To be even more environmentally sound, mix a paste of flour and water.

This teaches the 2nd R, Reuse, by example and offers the concept to be selective and Resourceful by using what you choose. The idea of making up their own designs will not only stir your students’ imaginations but also give a sense of accomplishment on making something original and useful for themselves. A child may want to weave a mat for a dollhouse or design a miniature object for a railroad set. The beauty of this craft lies in its diversity.

As Christmas approaches, The 3Rs Craft Box can come out to make tree ornaments or other seasonal decorations. In one of my experiences as a parent volunteer operating an after-school Environmental Club, a girl fingered two little white plastic pizza top tables for about five minutes, stating, “I want to use these, but don’t know why.” Suddenly, her face lit up as she put the legs together and exclaimed, “Why, it makes a perfect little cage!” With that in mind, she set to work to add ribbon and a cutout bird to make a delightful Christmas decoration. To practise public speaking, the children can describe their crafts.

The following will provide you with ideas if you have a surplus of greeting cards, corks, stubby crayons or spent light bulbs in your collection.

By concentrating on scraps of junk, you will be amazed at what your students can fashion out of trash that otherwise would be destined for landfill. As a bonus, you won’t have to spend your school budget on art supplies.

Food for thought: With rising oil prices, the awareness to grow food locally, as well as the newly discovered plight of the bumble bee, this should be a good year to downplay the use of food imported from afar such as macaroni, Cheerios and seeds for crafts.

Larraine Roulston writes children’s adventure books that combine composting facts with literature. Visit www.castlecompost.com.

CHRISTMAS CARD BOXES
Children just love to make tiny boxes from old greeting cards. To make a box, open card and cut it in half along the fold line. Mark an X, lightly in pencil, from corner to corner on the inside of both pieces. Fold all four edges to the middle of the X, one at a time. Open flat and cut along the two fold lines at each end (4 cuts) to the other fold line. Create the box by folding the tabs in first, then fold the end over and paste or tape in place. The picture from the card that is now the top half of the box is usually centred. The inside message may line up nicely too.

THICK CRAYONS
Fill paper muffin cups with bits of crayons and put into a muffin tin. Bake in oven on low heat until melted. The crayons now are thick, with swirls of colour, and will make an interesting multi-coloured effect when used. These recycled crayons are ideal for tiny fingers in kindergarten classes.

SPENT LIGHT BULBS
Cut strips of paper or tissue. With a thin paste of flour and water, cover the bulb for a papier-maché tree ornament. (Safety Note: because light bulbs are fragile, they may not be suitable for all children.)

CORKS
Design a classroom wreath or make a cork bulletin board by gluing corks together. You might want to put enough together to enable something to float.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR USING THE 3RS CRAFT BOX
For group art, create a scene for display.
Decorate boxes that hold items for the classroom.
Place random items inside a bag or wrap in a piece of newspaper for each student. Announce that they have this art class to create something from what is in their bag. This provides an opportunity to learn what can be put together just for fun. You can add a challenge that everything must be used or put a time limit on the activity. You may wish to suggest that they can trade to encourage bartering skills.
Puppets
Quarter holders from 35mm camera cylinders
Mosaic art from broken china
A pencil holder from a cracked cup
A plant holder from a broken tea pot or an old boot