Following our short review, I brought out the crafting materials. That's when the girls really started getting excited. The first craft we made represented the continent, Africa. We made Egyptian pyramids out of yellow construction paper, after I explained their significance to the two girls.
The next craft we made was related to the continent Asia. Since China is a country in Asia and the Ticos love celebrating life--pura vida!--Chinese lanterns seemed like the perfect craft to make (Also, Angela recommended it, so it was going to be good no matter what!). After explaining how these lanterns are hung up during celebrations to express happiness, love, joy, and prosperity, we each picked out a color and made our own little lanterns to hang up in the Center. | If you'd like to make your own Egyptian pyramid, watch the YouTube video on the left. If you'd like to make your own Chinese lantern, follow the instructions below (click for the website's link). They are both super easy to make! |
The final craft we made were Australian Aboriginal dot paintings. To make them, all you need is a picture of something, outlined on paper or in your head, a little bit of paint, and a couple Q-tips to make the dots. While ours did not turn out as well as our examples, we all still had a lot of fun making them. The girls each made two--one for display at the Center and the other to take home.
We did not have time to do the other two crafts I had lined up, but I plan on making Venetian gondolas (Europe) and Native American dream catchers (North and South America) with the other four classes I get to work with. Tomorrow, I get to work with a more advanced group of second and third graders, starting out with the continents, bringing in the oceans, and possibly some countries and interesting facts. Next week and the week after, I will be doing variations of these lessons with three different groups of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.
I'm looking forward to displaying all of their artwork on here for everyone to see! They are all truly wonderful students and I am so thankful everyone following these posts gets to see and experience their wonderfulness (teachers can make up words, right?) right alongside me.