1-2-3 Come Do Some Scarecrow Craftivities With Me

Since TBT (Throw Back Thursday) has become so popular on Face Book, I decided to share some "oldies" but "goodies" every now and then on my blog as well.  I have loved doing arts and crafts since I could hold a crayon, and began drawing the Flintstones, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck when I was only six-years old. 

The wonderful ability to easily draw all sorts of things, was truly a gift and especially encouraged by my grama Lydia.  She was always buying all sorts of materials for my twin and I to do crafts with. 

My love for art spilled into my classroom, where I incorporated lots of hands-on activities to help teach my students a variety of standards. I call these projects "craftivities".  I'm featuring a few scarecrow favorites in today's article. They were designed prior to all of the software programs, fonts and clip art that I now have at my disposal, but I think you'll still enjoy making some of these cuties from my hand drawn patterns. 

Completed projects make wonderful bulletin boards and hallway decorations, at the same time building a child's self-esteem, as well as strengthening finger muscles and listening and following direction skills.

My Y5's favorite scarecrow craftivity was their "personal scarecrow".  They are "jointed" so you can pose them in different ways.  Be sure and make a sample of yourself to help explain what you want your kiddos to do. 

I did this as a whole-group, listening and following directions activity and included a variety of colored construction paper shapes to use as "patches" for a quick and easy shape review.

I enlarged my students' school photo on the copier.  The picture appeared very pixilated, which added to the awesome scarecrow looking effect.

If you don't have the ability to do this, I've also included a scarecrow head template your children can color, cut and glue.

When I was a freelance writer for Mailbox Magazine, my editor asked me to write a scarecrow poem.  The personal scarecrows were my inspiration.

I've included the poem in the packet, along with a longer version, and hung them under my students' adorable scarecrows. 

We received zillions of compliments on this hallway display, and my Y5's really enjoyed making them. 

Click on the link to view/print the Personal Scarecrow craftivity.

Patrick, the paper chain scarecrow can help your kiddo's countdown to your Halloween party, field trip, or Thanksgiving break. 

Choose 2-colors for the links and review an ABAB pattern, or add a 3rd color to do ABCABC. 

As I tore off a link at the end of each day, we reviewed a variety of math standards like greater and less than as well as subtraction.

You can simply make one to hang in your classroom, or set this scarecrow up as an independent center and have children work on one of their own.

(Assign as many links as are appropriate for your age group.)  To incorporate blends, have students write an sc word on each link.

I think you'll find that if you incorporate a bit of art into your students' writing, they'll get a lot more excited.  An easy way to do this is with a topper or banner. 

In the Happy Harvest banner, students choose a writing prompt, (there are 3 options) complete it and then glue it to the back.  If they don't get down to business and complete the writing prompt, they will not have enough time to do the banner. 

Finally, for a quick, easy and fun way to review 2D shapes, have students make this paper plate scarecrow.  (They look wonderful spinning from the ceiling.) 

Cover more shapes by having students draw or glue colorful "patches" on the scarecrow's hat or around the poem that's featured on the back: 

"Hello little scarecrow with the face so round.  Going no place--stuck in the ground.  Staring at crows without making a sound."

Thanks for visiting today.  The weather is gorgeous so it's time for a break.  I'm going to collect some nature "stuff" for another fun "craftivity" that I'm working on.  Wishing you a fun-filled fall.

" Be a voice, not just an echo." -Unknown