This summer we made craft cards with our foster children in a different supporting area from the one where we made greeting cards in April. The level of education in schools in this area seems to have improved in recent years, hence we planned a craft class that would take a little more effort in order to keep the children from getting bored. It's a different type of card from April, but the main purpose for the children is to basically create symmetrical figures and to design a card with their own expressiveness.
In April, there were many children who had never touched color paper or glue, so we decided to make a type of craft card that can be completed about 80% of the whole if they can learn how to make one certain flower shape. On the other hand, in this area here, we first showed how to cut a basic 8-petal flower shape and then introduced how the number of petals can be changed depending on how the paper is folded, how the shape of the petals can be changed depending on how the paper is cut, and how the appearance of the flower changes depending on how the center of the folded paper is cut out. After that, the children worked with their own artistic senses.
Some made cuts not only in the center but also on the sides of the folded paper, others made butterflies in symmetrical shapes, added leaves and stems to their flowers, and made ribbons to attach them separately from the basic work. Looking at such finished works, I got the impression that there are many children who can develop their way of thinking. There might be some who had ended up with a different shape from what they originally expected, and yet they must have rethought a lot, thinking of cutting this way or that way next time. I also found some children showed their designability very well, which is wonderful.
Nonetheless, as a whole, there were quite a lot of cards with awkward cuttings, and pastings of repeated trial and error. I could tell that the children have little experience of handicraft/ papercraft itself. Especially in rural areas, things that don’t directly relate to maintaining the life are less valued. Arts and crafts are the one of such examples. But it’s also true that there are some meaningful abilities that can be cultivated through this kind of work, and so we’d like to continue to take in opportunities for craftmaking in the future.
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