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2D Theater

Here is an activity I stumbled across while planing my Drama/Theatre week. It is good for those kids that are creative but don't necessarily want to perform in front of crowds.

Simply print out the cut out here.

The end result is really limited by your imagination. Below is the one I created as an example for my group.

In case you were wondering here is the story that goes with it:

Once upon time and long ago there was a kingdom. The kingdom was a marvellous place, the whether was good, the soil fertile, the king was kind and the queen was beautiful. Everybody led happy lives. Well, nearly everybody. Not far away enough lived a vicious and blood thirsty dragon. He continually killed the farmer's sheep that lived on the outskirts of the realm. 

One day the farmers got together and petitioned the king for action.

"One day all our sheep will be gone, then he will eat us!" yelled one farmer.

"Once he is finished with us he will come after you!" yelled another.

The king knew something needed to be done so he got together all the smartest minds in his kingdom and they had a brainstorming session on what is to be done.

"Maybe we raise an army and kill it?" considered the army general.

"We could try and scare it off." suggested the head jester.

"We should just move, there is no point" lamented the leader of the pessimists society.

"I know what we can do!" chirped a young voice. The whole court turned to face the noise and found a young girl. "My mum is the best cook in the kingdom, her speciality is Satay Tofu. We can try and convince the dragon to eat that instead"

The king, who wasn't a fan of any of the other ideas, decided the young girl's idea was a winner.

They put a large tray of satay tofu out for the dragon. The dragon spotted it and gobbled it all up. "That is quite nice" the dragon belched.

From that day forward the dragon was a vegetarian. The kingdom was saved. The farmers were happy and the little girl's family became quite rich with all the orders of satay tofu ordered and paid for by the king.

THE END

Stain Glass Windows

A great activity for the start of Spring/Summer with daylight savings providing more light! If you are in the northern hemisphere save this one for six months.

Materials Needed

• Cellophane - Different colours
• Coloured paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Markers

Method

1.   On your piece of coloured paper draw some random shapes. Make sure these shapes are easy to cut out and are spaced evenly apart.
2. Cut out your shapes.
3. Using the cellophane cover and glue over the cut outs.
4. Hang it up on a window that gets plenty of sunshine.

Front

Back

Desired Effect

1. 
   

Toilet Roll Space Ship

Materials

• Aluminium Foil
• Toilet Roll
• Glue
• Paper- Coloured
• Markers/Pencils
• Cardboard from cereal box

Method

1. Cut out wing flaps, these will go on the sides of the rocket, from the cereal box card. Also make a cone to go on top from the same material.
2. Cut slits on the toilet roll to fit the wing flaps into.
3. Cover the wing flaps, the cone cover and the toilet roll in aluminium foil.
4. Make sure you cut the aluminum covering the slits in the toilet roll before you insert the wing flaps.
5. Decorate with windows and rocket fire.

Robots!

Materials

• Toilet Rolls
• Aluminium Foil
• Glue
• Markers/Pencils
• Pipe Cleaners
• Coloured Paper

Method

1. Cover your toilet roll in aluminium foil. This gives you the basic shape and look for your robot.
2. Decide what you want to add. Look below for examples.

Wheels are made by cutting small sections of the toilet roll, then stuck to the body with sticky tape.

Jet Pack Rabbit Robot

This child used a mint tin for the body.

Dinosaur Light Catcher

I don't know about you, but I used to love Dinosaurs when I was younger. In fact I still do! Have a go at this colourful activity!

Materials

• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Glue
• Baking Paper (Grease proof paper)
• Tissue Paper (Various colours)

Method

1. First you need to find some Dinosaur outlines. A quick Google search will be able to help you with that, like this one.
2. Print out which dinosaurs you want.
3. Create a template using your cardboard so children can trace the Dinosaur that they want. 
4. To save some time, cut up three of four colours of tissue paper into small squared and rectangles.
5. When you have cut out the Dinosaur, or the kids have depending on their skill level, glue squares of different colours on the back. So that the outline is still clear.
6. Put it on a window and enjoy your masterpiece! 

Template Creation

Snowman and other wintry scenes

Materials Needed

• Cotton Balls
• Glue
• Coloured Paper
• Scissors

Method

1. Using the cotton balls make the shape of a snowman. Three circles;biggest on the bottom and smallest on the top.
2. Glue these down.
3. Using coloured paper cut out some arms, facial features and add detail to the back ground if you wish.
4. You can also create other snow scenes with the cotton wool as it can stretch out.

Planet Mobile

This activity is a great way to learn about the planets, their colours and their order.

Materials Needed

• Planet printout (Get it here)
• Scissors
• Glue
• String
• Coloured Paper
• Colour pencils
• Two Popsicle sticks

Method

1. Glue the two Popsicle sticks together to form an 'X' and put it to the side to dry.
2. Colour in all the planets with your pencils, I would suggest to not use markers as it can make it difficult to cut out.
3. Cut out the planets.
4. When the planets have been cut out trace them on the coloured paper, this will be on the back of the planet, and cut these out.
5. Attach a length of string to each spoke of the 'X' you made earlier.
6. Attach the planets to the string by gluing the string in between the planet and coloured card cutout. 
7. You can also cut out the names of the planets and glue on the coloured card as well.
8. You can add sequins or colourful cotton balls or just glittery stuff in general to make the whole thing feel a bit more spacey.

Shooting Stars

This is a good activity to get kids running around.

Materials Needed

• Thick cardboard
• Tissue paper - Lots of different colours.
• Popsicle sticks
• Glue
• Sequins

Method

1. Printout a Star and trace it on some cardboard. Make sure you use good scissors to cut out the star or it will be near impossible.
2. Using your sequins and whatever you can find lying around decorate the star to be as spacey or glittery as possible.
3. Using the tissue paper cut nice long strips of different colours and attach them to the back of the star.
4. Attach the Popsicle stick to be used as a handle.
5. Tell the kids to run around!

Rocket Ship

Here is a picture of a rocket ship we created. All you need is cardboard, paint and tape. Try it yourself!

Relay Games

Relay games can be a lot of fun and you can make them as interesting as you want. Making the 'baton' can be an activity in itself.


Below are two examples.


Suit Case Relay


What you need:

• Cardboard
• Tissue/Crepe Paper- Brown
• Glue
• Scissors

We did this relay in conjunction with an Olympic Games theme day. 

1. We got some old cardboard boxes, sketched and cut out some suitcases with easy hold handles. 
2. Cutting out some tissue/crepe paper we glue it all over the suitcases.
3. We stuck some travel stamps and stickers we found on the internet over it to give it some authenticity. Have a look here.
4. Most of our suitcases didn't last the race as some of the competitors were quite 'passionate'.

Rocket Relay

What you need:

• Different coloured paper
• Cello tape
• Scissors

We did this relay on a space theme day.

1. Roll some paper into a cylinder and stick it together.
2. Cut out a small circle and create a cone, this is for the top of the rocket.
3. Cut out some triangles for flaps on the side of the rocket.
4. To make this one a bit more interesting I put a hula hoop 'planet' at the end and the runners needed to orbit the planet three times before going back to home base.

Buzz Off

This is a fun outdoor game that requires little equipment. It is also called Sharks and Islands.


It is a variation of Tiggy (or Chasey or Tag, depending where you are from)


One person is 'it' and the rest need to run away from him/her. 


The trick is they are only safe when on a marker and only one child can be on a marker at a time. There is always one or two less markers then people playing, which means there are always kids being chased. 


If one child is on a marker and sees another child approaching they yell "Buzz Off Sam!", which means that Sam cannot go onto that marker so Sam continues running. Sam then spots Julie, who isn't paying attention and yells "Buzz Off Julie!". This means that Julie must leave the marker and find somebody else. The game then continues on this. There is no real end point usually when they get tired.

Country Toad

This is another game from the Arcademic Skill Builders' website. This game focuses on geography knowledge, specifically countries and capitals. It is a single player multiple choice game. Click here to play!  

How this toad got a passport I'll never know.

Your toad is sitting on a Lilly-Pad with a capital city label, four countries descend from the top of the screen and you decide where to jump. You do have plenty of time to decide but if you take too long the action can become frantic. The variety of countries is good and the game does get harder as you play.

Paper Chain Snake

This activity is a simple and old one. While some children might find it fun chances are that many will find it boring. To change it up a bit we did some research. We discovered that the record for the longest snake in captivity was about 7.3 meters (24 Feet), you can read about it here. While there were many sites claiming all sort of different sizes we decided to go with what Guinness World Records said.


So we decided to recreate this snake in paper chain form. It created a great team atmosphere as well problem solving, the kids had to work out a way to measure it. The snake is now hanging in our room watching over us, the kids love it!


Materials

• Coloured Paper
• Scissors
• Glue

Mosaics

Mosaics are a fun and creative craft that allows kids to do what ever they want be that a picture or a pattern.


Getting the right materials can be tricky. You can make your own which would be time consuming or you can buy little crafts squares from your local art and craft shop. 


Materials

• Coloured Squares
• Glue
• Coloured Paper

Here are some examples of what we did:

Boat

Flower

Girl

Creature from Minecraft

Bridge Building

Bridge Building

This is a fun and engaging activity that we recently did at after school care. You need plan for it a bit, saving up cardboard and various other materials that can be used to make a bridge. 

Somethings that can be used include:

• Cardboard boxes
• newspaper
• Popsicle sticks
• Masking Tape

I found that it was easier to have groups of four to make one bridge. That way kids can bounce ideas of each other and work through it as a team. It is also best to have a minimum size of the bridge but make sure the measurement is easily at hand. I used a clipboard to make sure the space between tables always stayed constant for all the groups, of course there are always some sneaky children! 

Here are some pictures of what they came up with:

In addition to this you make it a competition to see who can make the longest bridge or the strongest bridge. 

Glitter Box

Glitter Box

Materials Needed

• Coloured Paper
• Cardboard
• Cube Net
• Glitter
• Glue
• Newspaper

Method

1. Using the cube net, or making one your self create a template on cardboard for children to trace. You can find a printable template here:  http://www.themathlab.com/geometry/section9/cubenet.gif
2. Before gluing the box together decorate the exterior.
3. You can use other things than glitter but glitter is the easiest, and messiest.
4. To save on clean up place newspaper under the box when decorating. 
5. First put apply glue then shower the surface with glitter.
6. The newspaper will help you save what ever doesn't stick.
7. Wait until the glue has dried then put the box together.

TIP: For a more sturdier box use thicker paper.

Paper Plate Sun Catcher

Paper Plate Sun Catcher

Materials Needed

• Paper Plate
• Cellophane
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tissue Paper

Method

1. Fold the paper plate in half, do not make a crease, and cut out the middle.
2. Stick cellophane on the back so it covers the middle, you use either one or a variety of colours.
3. Using the tissue paper, or what ever else you may have lying around, decorate the out side.

This one was meant to be like a sun.

Spring Blossom Tree

Spring Blossom Tree

Materials Needed

• Tissue paper - various bright colours
• Tree branch
• Scissors
• PVA Glue
• Glue Brush
• Bucket
• Sand

Method

1. Cut the tissue paper into small squares, doesn't have to be exact.
2. Put the tree branch in the bucket full of sand so it looks like a small tree.
3. Scrunch up the tissue paper into small balls.
4. Glue these balls onto the branch in the where every you can find a stable spot. You can then add not so scrunched up tissue paper as opened flowers.

This is a good ongoing project as you can only do so much in a day then you need to let it dry. It is good to have a couple of 'trees' of different colours it creates a great effect.

Snake Charmer

Snake Charmer

Materials Needed

• A4 or A3 coloured paper
• Popsicle Stick
• String/Fishing Line
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Various Decorative Materials
• Glue

Method

1. On a piece of paper draw the shape of a snake's head. The bigger the piece  of paper the bigger snake will be .

2. Draw a large circle from the back of the snake's head to its nose.

3. From the other side of the snake's neck draw a spiral line into the center of the snake.

4. First cut around the snake, then cut along the spiral line.

5. Now comes the decorating.

6. Decorate the Popsicle stick so it looks like a flute.

7. Cut a length of string and attach one end to the flute and the other to the underside of the snake's head. The length of the string depends on the size of the child so may you need to do some testing before sticking the string on.