These three projects were chosen for a demonstration. Here are my notes but they are just that notes. Use your creativity and have fun.

 For all three projects, creativity is the key.

NEVER pay full price for your raw materials.

Have FUN!

Baseball, Flowers, Hearts, Rockers, Sea Creatures & Stars

(Probably, for a “J” group, I’d narrow the themes to only three. Otherwise, it gets too confusing and expensive with your materials.)

Materials:

Beads– do you really want to embellish with items that present a choking hazard? Know the age of the children!

Brads – scrapbook or stationary size (again, consider the ages of the participants)

Cards – reduce, reuse, recycle

Fabric Paint/Glue – try to buy on sale; glue can be dispensed in bottle caps with small paintbrushes. (For some reason kids believe the more glue they use the better objects will stick!)

Felt – don’t offer too much of a selection, 2/3 basic colors

Fun Foam – can get expensive, save small scraps, (Hey, you never know…)

Paper – consider the finished project; get the right weight for the right job

Ribbons – contrasting works well

Stickers – these, too, can get expensive; buy on sale and save leftovers.

Placement of your message:

High – Sometimes gets overlooked

Low – Anticipation

Middle & Framed – the BEST, your eye is automatically drawn to the middle. Framing makes the message more important.

A picture is worth a thousand words. What and where are you placing your images?

The message is important. Spell it out! Have the children write out what they want to place on their banner on scrap paper. (Although, isn’t that the charm of having children making their own—the misspellings?)

BANNERS:

Birthday

Praise

Seasonal

Sport

Room—Personal

Inspirational—Courage, I Can, Service, READ, Contentment, Ambition, Teamwork, Endurance, Success, Hope, Trust, Friendship, Diversity, Destiny, Love, Integrity, Acceptance, Persevere, Risk, Curiosity, Loyalty, Determination, Spirit, Freedom, Dare, Dream, Attitude, Vision, Change, Purpose, Goals, Training, Forgiveness, Peace

BOXES:

Aliens

Book (Altered books)

Craft

Food

Gift

Holiday

Houses

Jewelry

Keepsake

Message

Organizer

Party Favor

Shadow

Stationery

Treasure

Trinket

Vacation

Doll House Furniture

Popsicle Stick Boxes

Recycle a Kleenex box as a crayon container.

Shoe boxes can hold all types of craft material.

I love boxes!!!

Have a variety of different size boxes and let the children “create” accordingly.

BOOKMARKS:

Beads

Card

Color

Envelope

Felt

Fun Foam

Paint Chip

Paper Clip

Popsicle Stick

Ribbons

Stamp