Arts Purses

Are you a camp director, professor, or homeschool mom looking for a new arts and crafts idea for your children? Or maybe you are a recreation director at a senior centre or day care and could use a new project. Either way, this arts and crafts idea will be interesting and enjoyable for all. This glass box can be used, given as a present, or converted into a necklace purse.

To make the glasses box, you will need the following simple materials: a square of craft foam, plastic or large blunt needles, lanyard lace or thick yarn. Cut 2 rectangles from the foam, each 3-1/2 inches (9 cm.) by six inches (fifteen cm.). With a orifice punch, make holes on 3 sides of each rectangle, leaving one short side unpunched. Make the holes 1/2 inch apart and permit at least 1/4 inch between the orifice and the border of the craft foam. The holes need to line up so that the 2 pieces can be tangled together. In the case that you are preparing the craft for small children, you should make the holes yourself. Otherwise, the crafters can do this step if you have enough pairs of hole punches.

At this level the crafters can cut decorative shapes from other colors of craft foam, or you can buy sets of easy-cut foam shapes. If you are making the craft at a special event, like vacation Bible school, choose shapes that echo the theme of the event. For example, if the Bible school or camp has a cowboy theme, find figures that fit well, for example boots, cowboy hats, and stars. Let the children choose the shapes they prefer and glue on as desired. You might also like to provide beads or sequins to glue on as well, especially if the crafters are a bit older.

The next step in this arts and crafts idea is to thread the plastic needle with the yarn or lanyard lace. Yarn might be a bit easier to handle, but lanyard lace is shiny and attractive. In a pinch, some professors of small kids use a bobby pin as a needle. It is certainly a safe alternative. Simply loop the yarn through the opening and use the open end of the bobby pin as if it were the point of the needle. The children can now begin to lace the front and rear of the glasses box together.

To transform this arts and crafts idea into a necklace purse, simply attach a piece of lanyard lace to each corner making a long handle. Kids will have fun using this box as a place to store secret notes and tiny objects. If they’d prefer, they can give the glasses case to a parent, grandparent, or friend who wears glasses. Either way, this arts and crafts idea will be interesting for all.

One of the ways to keep a child interested is by setting up obstacle courses and having races. This drill helps to train the child’s body for martial arts such as coordination, but keeps it fun so that he or she enjoys it. In addition, obstacle courses help to train the child for endurance and speed, both of which are crucial to the sport of martial arts.

Often children find the actual courses hard to pay attention to, so by increasing the energy of the class, it can have a significant impact on the child’s attention. For instance, including some high-energy music can set the tone for the class and keep the child interested. Moreover, keep the class moving, do not spend too much time on one technique or rule, you can always come back to it later. By keeping things moving, you are moving at the pace of a child and keeping their interest.

Make sure you are well prepared for the class you are teaching and keep the content exciting and fresh every week. If you go over the same technique for three weeks in a row, you will surely lose several of the students to boredom. Remember, with children, you can always come back to a technique, the important part is to keep the classes varied and high-energy.

In addition, in each of your classes with children, you should make it fun and have games that may not be exactly related to martial arts, but that will have an effect on their strength, balance, coordination, and stamina. Moreover, games that help with timing and dodging are excellent to not only keep the child’s interest but it also helps to condition their bodies.

You need to engage children in fitness activities, but these can include a combination of activities such as squats, sit-ups, jogging, and dodge ball. All of these together help to keep the child interested while developing them for the more advanced aspects.

Children normally have a shorter attention span and therefore, an activity has to be fun in order to keep their attention. Martial arts can be learned by children of any age, but the classes as well as the techniques learned must be fun, high-energy, and easy for the child to grasp. When these three are kept in mind, the child can advance to greater levels.