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