It was a typical day in the life of a small scale Mary Poppins. I set out for a shift at the volunteering centre and, as an experienced one, I could not imagine to go unprepared, even if minimally. I thought that, at the very least, we can do some circle magic. I could not take everything but I had a big pocket and so it got filled in with three glue sticks, an envelope full of circles, a small packet of colourful feathers (that was a nice coincidence that I had it). A4 paper and a box of markers did not fit in one hoodie pocket.
When I arrived and started the shift, it became obvious very very quickly that the place is not ready for any craft activities because, apart from one small table and a few little stools and a box of coloured pencils, there was nothing. Or, rather, there was only me and my pocket.
There is some beauty in that, really, when you get to see how your brain starts to get involved in order to think of a solution. Sure, THAT was not about sending a man to the moon or putting together a new recipe, but, still. I was building a grid for our version of hop-scotch and sorting out toys, and the brain was trying to imagine what I can make out of the contents of my pocket. A little chick, that’s what.
Ingredients
- lots of circles, cut out before the lesson out of colour paper, regular type, cardboard might be too thick. As for the size, this time it is officially: the Size of the Bottom of a Mug, colourful, for the kids to choose from, two pieces per child
- glue
- something to draw (markers, pencils, crayons)
- colourful feathers (I got them in the stationery section of a regular supermarket, you can buy them in any craft activities), but they can be replaced by strips of colorful tissue paper (also those unevenly torn), three per child, if you use the feathers or as many as you want, if you use the strips of the tissue paper
Procedure
- ideally, for the smaller children especially, it would be a good idea to put a cross on one side of each circle, so that it is absolutely clear on which side children should put the glue
- each child chooses two circles
- choose the circle that will be your front, draw the eyes (two small circles in the most basic version), and a beak (a small triangle)
- take the other circle, cover the cross side with the glue
- place one of the feathers on the top, for the little ‘fringe’, on top of the glue, so that a part of it is on the cirlce and a part of it stands out of it
- repeat the same with the other feathers, by putting each of them on two sides, for the wings
- take the front circle, put it face down, cover the cross side with a lot of glue
- place it (more or less carefully), on the top of the back circle and the feathers, press
- use the birdies to play, the kids can use them as puppets, say hello, introduce themselves, ask how they are, and use any other structures that they already know
Why we like it
- is very, very easy, I have done it with two-year-olds (with a tiny bit of help) and with eight-year-olds
- there is more potential for decoration (a more complex bird’s face, legs, tail etc)
- the main focus of this lesson (or activity) can be playing with the chicks as making them will take only a few minutes
- despite being very easy to produce, this craft has a lovely ‘wow’ moment and it lies in the fact that such simple elements put together can gives a lovely little bird.
- below, you can also see the ‘proper Easter, made with mum and aunt’ version, with professional wings, made of felt. They look pretty and we made them only because I found this set in a shop. Here, it might be a good idea to let the chicks spend the night in the middle of the book, to make sure that they stick properly (felt is a bit thicker and it will need more encouragement, especially if you are using just the regular glue)
Here are some other circle-based craft ideas
Here are my own Frogs Etc, my snowman, and all the circle ideas.
Here is a lovely bear craft, here a ladybird craft, and here a caterpillar, too and here, a bunch of other activities, probably too complex for the EFL classroom but definitely worth looking at.