| The kindergarten class I was teaching was | | | | curly look and add strength. |
| scheduled to perform a dramatic recitation. We | | | | The flowers were even easier to make than the |
| needed several flower and bumblebee costumes. | | | | bees. The garbage bags only needed arm and |
| Since I have found that kids love making their | | | | neck holes cut out. |
| own costumes, I wanted the class to be able to | | | | The flowers were made with ... |
| participate as much as possible in the process. | | | | - Green Garbage Bags (one per child) |
| Therefore, I came up with an easy costume idea | | | | - Coloured Paper |
| and had the grade 7 class come in and assist, one | | | | - Scotch Tape |
| student per kindergarten child. In about 1 hour all | | | | To make the head of the flower, we first cut a |
| of the costumes were complete and the | | | | 2-inch wide strip of paper for each child and |
| kindergarten class looked adorable. It was a great | | | | wrapped it around each one's head from the top |
| experience for everyone. | | | | of their head to their chin, being sure to create a |
| How did we make the costumes? Easy! | | | | comfortable fit. We then taped it and removed it. |
| The bumblebees were made with ... | | | | Next we cut out several colours of petals about |
| - Yellow Garbage Bags (one per child) | | | | 5-6 inches high by 3-4 inches wide and let each |
| - Black Electrical Tape | | | | child pick the colour they wanted for their flower. |
| - Hair Bands | | | | We did the cutting by eye, so the measurements |
| - Pipe Cleaners | | | | are approximate. Next, we attached the chosen |
| - Small Foam Balls (available at craft and dollar | | | | petals all along the inside edge of the bands we |
| stores) | | | | had just made and finally, folded the petals |
| The yellow garbage bags were laid flat on a desk | | | | outward. Note: The number of petals varied with |
| and while the kindergarten children held them | | | | the preferences of each child. |
| down, the grade 7 children put four stripes of | | | | For most of the children the flower head piece |
| electrical tape across, front and back. Each stripe | | | | stayed on perfectly. For the ones who had |
| had 3 widths of the tape. Finally, arm and neck | | | | trouble with it slipping off, we added a second |
| holes were cut out of the garbage bags. Note: If | | | | strip of 2-inch wide paper to the first one from |
| you make a mistake, clear packing tape or scotch | | | | approximately ear to ear, around the back of the |
| tape works wonders. | | | | head on the day of the performance. |
| The antennae were made by twisting 2 pipe | | | | The final result was amazing. The kids were |
| cleaners to each hair band and then, pushing a | | | | absolutely thrilled with their accomplishments and |
| foam ball onto the other end of each pipe cleaner | | | | the performance was a great success. |
| (the wire inside the pipe cleaners makes this | | | | Important: Please remember that plastic bags are |
| easy). Note: Before adding the pipe cleaners, we | | | | not a toy and should be used with caution, under |
| wrapped them around a pencil to give them that | | | | adult supervision. |