Name of the craft: ‘Exquisite Buddy’
Objectives: To design a craft for elementary students that prioritizes them using their imagination to create, while being appropriately complex for their age range.
Overview of the craft: The craft is an imaginary made-up animal made from different pieces of cut up paper. Students will follow the instructions to cut out different shapes, not knowing what parts of the creature the shapes correlate to. At different points the students will trade some of the shapes with each other, adding to the randomness of their results. The end of the instructions tells them which parts of the animal are which, and they then glue all the pieces together to create their imaginary beast. The students can then give it a funny name, and draw on specific details like a tail or a face, in whatever way they like.
Student outcomes: I want students to enjoy the act of creation with a project that they don’t have full control over, and without an idea of how it’s supposed to look when its finished. The random element of the craft is what makes it fun, and students will come away from the craft with an appreciation for not always going into art with a specific desired outcome in mind.
Research and resources: I wanted to come up with a craft that felt original, so in my research for fun crafts, I didn’t want to lean in too closely to any of the ones that I found. Google and Pinterest came in handy for inspiration. The idea around this craft comes from the concept of the ‘exquisite corpse’, which is a drawing brought together by multiple people without knowing what the other parts look like. I also knew this craft had to be made with materials that wouldn’t make much of a mess, so that did influence what I came up with.
Materials: Construction paper, scissors, glue, pencils, googly eyes, letter stickers.
Learning activities: Following instructions, cutting out shapes with paper, appropriately using crafting supplies
