Kids Craft: Bead Ornaments

The last day before Winter Holidays, Ana's school had a Crafts Morning for which I was glad to volunteer. Just an open room with a four tables and many child-sized chairs, with each table offering a different craft to try. When kids finish it to their satisfaction, they get to take it home.

Each table had all the required materials for a simple craft that kids get to do, from start to finish, within 15-20 minutes. There was the sponge stamps table, painting wooden ornaments table, bead ornaments table and the ever-popular snowflakes table, each manned by a fellow mom who took time off her busy life to be there and share the joy of crafting with the kids.

Mine was the Bead Ornaments table: a bunch of beads, some bells and pipe-cleaners, and scissors.

Kids wander in, in small groups, choose an activity and sit at the table and ask about it. If they elect to do it, the parent-volunteer shows them. They do it on their own, knowing that assistance is nearby if needed. And, then, they get to look around and hop to another craft table if it interests them and so on till they've tried all four exactly once.

Ana didn't expect to see me there as I kept it as a surprise. When she glided in with a few other friends and looked around, she jumped with joy and ran to my table, naturally, and chose to do the Bead Ornaments activity/craft first :)

It was a fun experience for me to get to know the kids, not just from Ana's class, but from the rest of the small community school as well. The 6-yr-old boys I met were a riot. Some of the kids from Ana's class were uninhibited enough to open their conversation with, "You are Ana's mom!" which somehow made them feel comfortable enough to let me show them simple ornaments to make. Some wouldn't stop chatting while others would deliberately ignore my presence :)

All in all, it was a great experience for me. The energy in that room was unbelievable. But so was the self-discipline and respect for their work and their friends'.

Needless to say, the ornaments Ana made with me that day adorned our Noble Fir and cheered us up during the holidays.