March: National Craft Month

March is a month of inspiration. It’s full of various beautiful holidays and it itself is National Craft Month. Doing crafts has many benefits. This is a great opportunity to express yourself in a creative and artistic way or discover hidden creativity. It also provides stress relief and builds a sense of community and friendships. Besides, the craft is one of the effective methods of teaching kids a foreign language.

Spring craft activities in the classroom will create a festive mood, encourage young learners to practice English, and keep them engaged. This a great way for teachers to create lessons with interesting tasks. 

So let’s jump from the cosy mood to blossom ideas!

A quick overview of the history of National Craft Month

National Craft Month was created by the Craft and Hobby Association (now rebranded as the Association For Creative Industries) in 1994. Its goal is to help people rediscover the joy of crafting and to find or revisit a favorite handy hobby. 

In its early beginning years, the celebration of crafts began with only a handful of participants. But today many creative types celebrate, even if they are not a craft product or services organization. During the month crafters of all kinds set new goals for themselves, participate in online challenges or submit their work to contests. 

Give that chance to your young learners and turn your lessons into real art.   

An inspiration journal 

Materials: a printable journal, scissors, coloring materials, glue, a stapler, and a pen. 

Spring inspires us to go out and explore things around. Before the lesson ask students to walk outside a little bit and memorize a few words (for example, leaf colors, flowers, blue sky, etc.) connected with spring. 

Ask students to draw the memorized words in the lined and graph pages or they can use simple white papers. When they finish, show them the drawn pictures one by one and ask: “What’s this?”

With elder students, you can ask them to write a short introduction text about them and what they like about spring. 

You can ask students to add pages to this journal and stick flowers, leaves, or anything that is connected with spring.  

This activity helps kids to remember and practice thematic vocabulary.

Pop-up rainbow card

The weather is crazy and rainy in March, but there are always rainbows after rain, so let’s color them and cheer up.

Materials: white A4 paper and dark blue A6 card stock, scissors, coloring materials, black and pink markers, a pencil, a ruler, and glue.  

Instructions for kids: 

• Take the blue card and fold it in half.
• Take the white paper and cut it by length. 
• Take q ruler and pencil. Draw seven lines on white paper. 
• Color each line with rainbow colors. 
• Fold the colored paper into an accordion. Fold the short edge of the rainbow by width. Flip over and fold in the other direction. Continue until you get an accordion. 
• Prepare the blue card. Take the glue and put it on one edge of the rainbow. Stick it to the right side of the card across the width. Press gently. 
• Take the glue and put it on the other edge of the rainbow. Close the card and press. 
• Make sure the rainbow is glued really tight.   
• Take the other piece of white paper and scissors. Draw two clouds and then cut them out. 
• Stick clouds to the card below the rainbow. 
• Take the black marker and draw eyes and mouth on the clouds.     
• Take the pink marker and draw cheeks. 

With this activity, students will practice colors and weather vocabulary.

Suncatcher-clock

It’s sometimes sunny outside but the sun doesn’t warm yet. Let’s catch the sun and count till it shines bright.  

Materials: a wood embroidery hoop, wax paper, scissors, 12 colorful buttons, a black marker, glue, string, or ribbon. 

For decoration: colored tissue paper, glitter, colored feathers, or any other decoration.  

Instructions for kids:

1. Take the circle (embroidery hoop) and wax paper. Put the paper between the rings.
2. Take scissors and cut extra wax paper.   
3. Cut colored tissue paper into small pieces.
4. Put some glue on the wax paper. Stick the pieces of colored paper and colored feathers to it. Add some glitter too.
5. Let it dry. 
6. Flip over the suncatcher and take colorful buttons. Put some glue and make a circle with them.
7. Take a marker. Ask your teacher what time it is. Draw arrows to those directions. 
8. Take a string and tie it with the top of your suncatcher-clock. 

Before doing the craft revise counting numbers from 1 to 12 and backwards. 

Daffodils 

Flowers are a great present for mothers. Handcraft flowers are extremely valuable as they are made with love. So let’s surprise parents with handmade daffodils.  

Materials: 1 egg carton, 4 green drinking flex straws, watercolor, a paintbrush, glue and scissors, toilet paper roll, colored paper, and decorative strip. 

Instructions for kids: 

• Take the egg carton and cut it so you get 4 cup parts (big ones) and 4 peak parts (small ones). 
• Take the scissors and make a hole in the cup parts.  
• Take orange watercolor and peak parts (small ones). Color them and let them dry. 
• Take yellow watercolor and cup parts (big ones). Color them and let them dry.  
• Take the straws and push them through the cup parts. 
• Put some glue on the bottom of the peak parts and attach them to the cup parts. Make sure they are glued tight. 
• Take the colored paper. Put some glue and wrap a toilet paper roll with colored paper.
• Put the flowers into the flower holder. After doing the craft. ask students what they need to do so the flowers don’t die. Teach the words: water, grow, bloom, leaf, garden. 

Dragonfly

 

Follow the link. Do you hear that? It’s a dragonfly. Impossible to imagine spring without insects. Make one with your students. 

Before starting the craft, play the video with different insects’ sounds and teach their names. Pay students attention to what sounds each insect makes. Repeat for the dragonfly a few times.     

Materials: 2 ice cream sticks, a wood clothespin, wiggly eyes, glitter, glue, watercolor, and a paintbrush.  

Instructions for kids: 

• Take watercolor and paint ice cream sticks and a wood clothespin with a color you want.  
• Take glitter and sprinkle it on the sticks and the clothespin.
• Put some glue on wiggly eyes and stick them to the clothespin.
• Put some glue on the middle of each ice cream stick and glue them to the clothespin in an X form to form the wings. 

Spring craft activities will bring a sunny mood to your class and will ease the process of teaching material.