Creating greeting cards is a staged process that would make an excellent topic / activity for children of all ages !
You could organise the theme to cover a week of 'targetted activities to show the process of paper making through to handing out the cards !
Christmas or Thankyou Easter Cards would be a great time of the year to plan for this.
For many adults Card making is an enjoyable hobby that adds a personal feel to the cards & can be a good source of income !
If you know someone locally who does this maybe they would be interested in popping into your Class/ Group to help the children in their activities?
Lesson ~ Session Ideas ..
DISCUSSION Titles ...
Decide what occasion the card is to be made for.
- Discuss who has a birthday / New Baby / Special occasion due.
- The type of cards they have recieved before and what they were made of.
- What happened to the cards once the event was over.
- Talk about what the cards could be used for - Placed in a scrapbook for keepsakes ~ cut and made into crafts or gift tags.
Who it will be given to & how old the recipient is (roughly :wink: )
- Is it a brother or sister
- Are they older or younger than the Child?
- A relative, friend or teacher !
What is the card going to say- Ask the children what sort of wording would be nice on the front of the card and inside.
- Is it to say Thankyou ~ Goodbye ~ good Luck ~ Happy birthday
How is the Card going to be sent to the person- Can it be 'Hand delivered
- Put into an envelope, stamped Addressed and Posted in the mail?
- Will they make a special trip to see the person?
- How will they travel there?
********************
ACTIVITIES - Paper Making
- Design drawing
- Shape cutting
- Making Layouts
- Writing & Letter formation for inside the card. (for children of an appropriate age & development)
- History ~ using pictures to see how styles have changed.
- Cross examination of Cards available today.
- Opportunity to select and use materials based on Personal preference ~ If necessary ask the children why they like the chosen items & help with additional vocabulary for giving reason to their choices.
Colours & Textures of the Paper mush
Making your Own paper
********************
Creating Cut outs, Embellishments, Die cuts or ornaments for the card fronts.
Collect a selection of items the children can look at and choose from before hand ~ ask parents / Carers for any small beads, buttons & threads that you could use (be concious of those items that are choking hazards )
- Use small plastic recycled lids as wheels - Eyes - Noses - balloons
- Sewing shops will sell strings of embroidered flowers quite cheaply OR check out local charity shops for lace and curtain accessories that you can use.
- Christmas is great time for buying in glitters & Tinsels for year round use!
BASIC tools for card making ~
Scissors
Double sided sticky foam pads
PVA or Prit stick
Sticky tape
Coloured felt pens
********************
Other THEMES this activity could be included in ..
Tools ~ Colours ~ Feelings & Emotions ~ All about me & Birthdays ~ Numbers ~ Materials ~ Recycling
********************
Website addresses for more ideas ...
Scrap Album.com ~ Very nice site detailing the History of Scrapbooking from Victorian times.