Every Tuesday I have the pleasure of teaching a kindergarten class for my youngest son and some of his friends. My bigger boys are in classes, so not only do we get to have some one on one time, but we can do the crafts that they are not interested in anymore.
So, in preparation for Remembrance Day the kids and I made two amazing crafts. All the materials can be on hand and they really only take a couple minutes to make.
I hope that you enjoy them as much as we did.
Egg Carton Wreath.
What you need:
One Egg Carton
One Paper Plate
Scissors
Glue
Red Paint
Green Paint
Black Paint
Paintbrushes
First cut out all of the little egg cups. This is a little tricky, so for the kids that are not as proficient with fine motor skills, maybe mom or dad could help.
Next, have your child paint the cups a nice shade of red. They don’t have to paint the bottoms as they will be glued to the wreath, but the outsides are a must.
Next cut out a circle shape from the paper plate, and paint it green.
Once the cups are dry, glue them to the green wreath.
Lastly, paint a few dots of black in the centre of the poppy cups.
Hang your beautiful wreath.
Coffee Filter Poppies.
After reading the poem, In Flander’s Fields by Jon McCrae, the kids wanted to do another poppy craft. Luckily this one takes only about 20 mins.
What you need.
Coffee Filters
Red Food Dye
Water
Dish
Pipe Cleaners
First, take coffee filters and fold them using an accordion style method.
Then, have your child submerge them in the dish full of red food colouring and water. You can experiment with this part – using more Food Coluring – or even squirting it right on the filters. This was also an easy way to show how absorption works.
Be careful with this part. We had a little mishap at this stage and also dyed my son’s pants, socks and underwear.
Also, it might be a good idea to wear gloves.
Once the coffee filters are dyed – wring them out and lay them flat to dry. (about 15 mins)
Once they are dry re-fold into an accordion fan style, and pinch in the centre – facing out the ends. Put two together and fasten with a pipe cleaner.
You can also take the opportunity to cut out a triangle so that the flowers look more like poppies.
You can pin these on your kids for the Remembrance Day ceremony, or keep them in a vase to look at and pay respect to those who fought and died for our rights and our lives today.
I absolutely love how this craft turned out. I almost feel like glazing it with mod-podge to make sure it lasts a long while.