Telling your students to "Go Away!"

 

Go away, kids!

A risky strategy if you want to get paid next month!

My kindy classes fell on Feb 3rd, which is 'setsubun' festival in Japan this year. It's an occassion when children throw (soy) beans at a monster (usually the oldest bloke in the house) shouting 'oni wa soto' - literally, go away monster.

The idea is to shoo away bad luck/evil spirits from the house, and to invite good luck in through the open door. I am sure many cultures have similar mid-winter superstitions/traditions (what are they?).

Monster mash

Who doesn't like making masks?! I wanted two different ones so I could divide my class into 2 groups, to shout at each other by the end of the lesson. Content was reviewing/recognising some letters of the alphabet & following colouring directions. We had not done a Hallowe'en theme last year - for several reasons including I think it is a cultural imposition & inappropriate! But the Super Simple Song "Go Away" from Halloween fits this task rather snuggly, so first time of hearing, my monsters quickly got the idea and could use their new English phrase at home on demand :)

What do you think? Monsters banished?!

Still don't get it - Hallowe'en

Regular readers (or ones with long memories at least) will know that I don't do Hallowe'en, trick or treating, or pumpkins (but I do make a good pumpkin curry...) I do enjoy the pagan aspects that became All Hallow's Eve; I went to Pendle College and know a bit about witches (due to the hill it was named after, not the students!) and this video will give you some more information + a cure for flu. There's a bit more considered history here, with a good dollop of religious, political & familial background for you (aromatherapy if you like as well!). What irks me, is the Americanisation of the night (Hallowe'en); could say exactly the same thing about Christmas, and the way Japan has managed to mess up Valentine's... Alright! A chance for the kids to make masks, dress up and bully older people for sweets!

And as a teacher, sure, it is a great excuse to do something arts & crafts based. We have a spare room full of boxes (and I read a blog about a month ago reminding me that an old cardboard box is going to be a rocket, a tunnel, a doll's house etc - totally right!) which needed using up (we recently received a load of exam promo material from ESOL). We have two arty classes on Thursdays who love making things...

Papier machee. Secrets to success: Google the best recipe, but start saving newspapers early! Use aprons if you can, & make sure you cover up furniture etc. Making stuff on a table makes sense - BUT if you are making masks you want them curved, don't you! I taped ours to the legs of upturned stools AND stupidly laid them flat to dry. Durr! They dried nicely. Flat!

Younger papier machuers will put the paper on in dollops not layers - brilliant for texture & relief - but will dry brittle & be hard to paint! Will also take an age to dry. Think oven or hairdryer.

Painting - aprons again and experiment with consistency first - how quickly do you want the paint to go on - and how thick/thin do you need it to be? Again, drying might be an issue, but if too thin you'll need to apply a second coat (and any second colour will 'run' more easily too).

 Word from the wise - finish A WEEK EARLY! You want to display the students' work before it goes home! Finished, in bag and gone = dreadful missed chance. Unless, of course, you hold an event and photograph the thing to death (like your Christmas party etc).

Pet hate? Hallowe'en Parties with expensive 'bought' junk, begging for sweets (as a parent I object a lot), mums aiming cameras at kids without getting into costume themselves. Whinge over - Happy Hallowe'en!

ghosts?!

I think you can see we had a lot of fun with our new topic yesterday - we will be talking about our bodies and doing more cool stuff. The trick I learned from my daughter's kindy was to use rubber bands as well as string to prevent tearing.

 

If you have got any cool masks you have made, why not share them?

Papier Mache masks

Papier Mache; an activity that should terrify any sensible teacher - the prospects for catastrophe are myriad!

Key to avoiding disaster is preparation, planning, and plumbing. You can't simply wade in and have yourself, and kids, elbow deep in glue when someone needs a hand in the toilet stat! Avoid getting globs of gooey black newspaper on the walls by wrapping the room in cellophane? Or do it outside, if  you have a parking spot, mini-garden or a balcony. Have your production line ready, and if at all possible, have a practice on your own first and make a couple of samples to various stages of completion, to show each stage of production & what you want to achieve.

Making paper mache is not rocket science, and any number of art crafty books will tell you how. Essentially, rip up old newspaper into the size you'll need, soak for an hour or two in not too much water. Kids love this ripping destructive phase. We are making animal masks,  so our plasticene/nendo needed to be not too warm or thin - floppy is useless! You'll need to help kids roll it flat on a non-stick & non-slippery surface (beware tablecloths). Whatever you are aiming for, simple design is best unless you are a ninja at this kind of thing! Forget the fancy stuff you see in the book - yours will look like the Elephant Man no matter what!

Remember to make a bump for the nose, and generous eyeholes (they'll shrink in the modelling stage). So a nice simple template cut into the plasticene, over which you need to slap on some vaseline to make sure the dried end-product will come off it easily. Sleeves up, smocks on, plastic mat or whatever on the floor, spare bucket for rinsing hands handy...take a deep breath and bung your wallpaper glue into the paper/water gunge. This is the tactile bit, squishing and squeezing. Glue in hair, in armpits, up noses, on chairs, nearby surfaces...be warned!

The bigger the model you made, the simpler the layering is. Finnicky corners/angles, fancy nose job? You are better off going for cro-magnon eyebrows and bold cheek bones! Also, don't overdo it - you can add layers later if you need to; too thick now = too heavy for the nippers. 

You'll not be painting these tomorrow; time the great healer as you set aside to dry. Teacher may want to touch things up before next class anyway, if someone had a 'mare?  Think ahead - the painting stage is wrought with deposit-threatening situations too!  We'll show you ours once they are done.

In true Rolf Harris style, "can you tell what they are yet?"