Fun End of the School Year Crafts for Kids at Elementary Group Counseling
The end of the school year is an exciting time for students and teachers alike because it marks progress and change. Fun crafts are a lighthearted way to celebrate the last day in the classroom. If you teach elementary students who participate in group counseling, it is important to consider the progress that they have made when planning out crafts for the end of the school year.
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Scrapbooks
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Scrapbooks are a fun, easy crafting project that students can use to reflect on the past school year. Provide the children with construction paper, or large blank notebooks, and supplies such as glue, scissors, felt, jewels and magazines. They can also bring anything from home that they would like to include. Encourage students to design their scrapbooks based upon the progress they feel they have made in counseling and the goals they would like to achieve in the future. Other items that can be used in the scrapbooks include sections of written assignments, inspirational phrases cut out of the magazines and positive test scores.
T-Shirts
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Students in elementary group counseling will also enjoy creating personalized T-shirts to remember the school year. Have each child bring a white, or light-colored, T-shirt to the last counseling session of the school year. You can also purchase a number of T-shirts to give out. Provide fabric paint in a variety of colors as well as a selection of colored permanent markers. The students can decorate the front of their T-shirts, such as with a design or handprint, and write their names underneath. Have the children autograph one another's shirts with the permanent markers and add phrases of encouragement and memories if desired.
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Friendship Bracelets
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Friendship bracelets are a fun craft to help children remember the friendships that they formed in counseling. Supply yarn, embroidery floss or gimp, and beads in a variety of colors, as well as safety pins to act as anchors while the bracelets are being made. Depending upon the age range of the children, demonstrate how to create a simple braid or a more complicated pattern. Once complete, friendship bracelets should be tied on by each child to their chosen friend. For a nice touch, have children accompany these bracelets with encouraging letters about the growth they have seen their peers undergo over the course of the school year.
Picture Frames
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Another craft to help children in elementary school counseling celebrate the end of the school year is decorating and filling picture frames. Purchase a number of foam picture frames from a craft store and have the children decorate them with craft supplies such as jewels, glitter and markers. If desired, encourage them to write their names or a goal they have achieved in counseling at the top. Next, have fun using an instant or digital camera to take snapshots of the children and the classroom to put in the frames. If you are using a digital camera, upload the images to a computer and print them onto photo paper.
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References
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