3 fellow students and I got together today to make maracas and an egg shaker. I learned a lot about what I would and would not do in my class, and had fun doing it! Ittook us 3 hours to set up, do the craft, and clean up, which was a lot longer than I expected it to be. However, part of that was just figuring out the kinks. As we went along, we kept a list of things to remember when doing this with our class. Here are the important ones:
- cut strips of paper in a curve line. It helps to keep the papers straight on the balloon
- it's easiest to put the popcorn kernels/beans in with a partner, funnel, and steady hand!
- aprons - necessary evil if you want to protect your clothes
- keep the flour/water mixture hot and use lots of water. If it gets too thick or chunky, it takes longer to dry
- only do 1 or 2 layers at a time, otherwise it will be too weak
- if you don't allow the plaster to dry completely before painting, it may grow mold.
- have sheets with students names on them somewhere in the class before class starts so students have a way of telling which one is theirs
- don't put balloons with popcorn kernels in the oven so the paper mache dries quicker. Just think about it for a second
- be prepared for the student that takes an
hour to finish, and the student that will take 5 minutes. Have more activities planned! - the more hands cleaning, the better!
All in all, I think this is a great craft and I'd love to use it in my classroom. It's fairly cheap as many supplies can be brought from everyday supplies at home. It'd be interesting to see what other PLOs you could work into this kind of craft. Definitely worth looking into!
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