Crafts and Games
I’d have three separate crafts
set up. One would be the traditional idea of Cinderella, which would be to make
crowns out of glitter glue, markers, and cardstock.
The second would be to make
beaded bracelets with different colored beads. I’d explain that in Caribbean
culture, custom holds that certain colors can affect your destiny. There are usually seven beads, but
whoever makes the bracelet has the
choice of wearing seven of one color for concentrated wishing or all seven
colors for a general wish for good luck in all categories. I’d let them
know what each color means, depending on what colors of beads I had, and then
set them loose.
For the third craft, I’d want
something a little bit easier so that if a smaller child comes, they’d be able
to do something too. In order to keep with the Caribbean theme, I’d
like something bright and colorful, so I’d have cut up pieces of crepe paper available to glue
as a little collage onto a picture of
Cinderella to decorate her dress.
For the games, I’d have one
table set up with a bunch of different areas for large scale tic-tac-toe. In
the Caribbean, they play as “the Panman” and the “palm tree.” So I’d have cards precut with
both of those pictures on them for each of the four stations of tic-tac-toe I
have set up.
Another game would be a traditional Jamaican game called Punchinella Little Fella, which is
generally done with at least five people but can absolutely be done with less. The children surround
one child, who is in the center of the
ring. The kids making the ring
sing the Punchinella Little Fella song, which
is either “What can you do Punchinella Little Fella?” or “What can you do Puchinella
Little Dear?” With each line, the child
in the middle responds with any dance move he
or she likes. The kids forming the circle have
to copy the moves. The kids decide who
is next in the middle and the game continues with
children singing as they all change
places. I think it’d be even more fun if the kids got
their parents to join in. I’m absolutely jumping in on that from time to time!
The children can decide to play
the games or they can do the crafts or they can do both! I’ll have some
Caribbean music playing to keep it going and to help with the dancing for
Punchinella.
I think this program will be
really fun because children love fairytales, and it will also give them a
chance to experience other cultural activities and crafts under the guise of traditional fairytales. In addition,
it allows me to push the nonfiction
section more, which is a fairly underutilized section compared to picture books
and chapter books.
This program would be very
active and fun and participatory, but wouldn’t require me to painstakingly plan
out all the details and present in front of a group for an hour. All
in all, I think it is a fun group activity that also allows me to showcase
nonfiction. It’s a win-win!