We had an arts-and-crafts program with our foster children. The content is bookmark making. There are 3 types of bookmarks to make.
① A simple one using patterned paper.
It's easy to fold, so it's a good warm-up for children who don't often have an opportunity to fold paper during their daily play. We prepared several types of patterned paper and let the children choose their favorite pattern. They can create a simple yet visually exciting bookmark.
② A heart-shaped bookmark that can be placed over the corner of a page.
They were excited that heart-shaped bookmarks could be made. The folding process is a bit complicated, but this is also an experience for them. They tried to fold it in the same way while watching the movement of our hands. This one was a single color paper without a pattern, but just like ①, we wanted each child to use it happily on a daily basis, so we asked them to choose their favorite color. Pink was popular among smaller girls. I’m glad there were enough!
③ A creative bookmark with sequins and glitters on paper collage themed around the sea.
It seems that there are some ways to make a sequins-enclosed bookmark, such as wrapping nylon around the mount paper or pasting a nylon sachet on a paper. In our case, however, there were strip-shaped nylon sachets available here, so we’d just prepared mounts with thin construction paper to match the sachet size. On the day of the event, the children cut and pasted color paper to create pictures (sea creatures were suggested) onto the mount. Once the collage was complete, put the mount in a sachet, added glitter in it, and closed it with double-sided tape. Then punched a hole and threaded a ribbon through.
We'd been worried that it would be difficult for them to cut out papers and make collage artworks because the mount itself was small, but many of the children were able to do it well. They stretched their imaginations what kind of patterns they wanted to create, some freely cutting out and others carefully sketching out the objects to cut. Of course, there were some children who had to glue and reapply the papers several times; however, the final sparkly bookmarks made them smile.
We hope their bookmarks make it fun to open their textbooks.
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