HALP

[pdragon76]

I have to run a ten minute activity tomorrow with eight teenagers of varying ages.  There has to be a tangible end product.  I can't buy anything, and am required to use everyday items I am likely to find in a normal household.  Sharps of any kind are out (scissors, knives etc), as are solvents/glues/anything sniffable

Comments

[lemmealone]

You could storyboard the pilot for a new TV show! And then sell it to a TV network on the side for cash.

[pdragon76]

LOL. Oh man. I am totally nabbing that for out in the field.

Heeee!

[deangirl1]

Paper airplanes? Oragami?

[pdragon76]

Yeah, FIS jumped straight on the paper planes. Otherwise I woulda been all over that. JD used to make a wicked X-wing thingy I coulda taught them.

Those bastards used to fly a country mile.

I went with the elephants in the end. And you know what? The kids were pretty into it. Huh. Who'da thought?

[chocca2]

How about Aluminum Foil Art?

some inspiration can be found here!

Good luck!

[brigid_tanner]

That's a cool link! I vote for the people in a circle. All the kids can make their own person, which can't stand up on it's own. But if you link them into a circle, teamwork lets them stand, run and even dance. LOL!

The problem is "normal household". Cause I don't know what normal people have. I have all kinds of craft stuff, but it's stuff i've bought over the years, so that probably wouldn't count. How about paper and crayons or paints to make cards to send the solders overseas? Or cards to send to an old people's home or something similar. I like card making, if you didn't guess.

[pdragon76]

Silent Bob did card-making. His kiddies went ape over it. They had an awesome time. Even the hardass older ones. :D

The al-foil's a no go due to self-harm concerns unfortunately. In high school, I had an al-foil mould of my face on my bedroom wall for years. It was one of my favourite bits of art I made back then. I would have loved to have done something like that with the guys, but I went with the elephants in the end and they were surprisingly keen.

*facepalm*

It certainly wasn't the lamest or least appropriate activity put forward, which was a relief. *chortle*

[pdragon76]

Hey! That site has some cool stuff! Unfortunately, the foil's a no-go because they can use it to cut up/self-harm. Fold it a coupla times and you've got yourself a makeshift blade. We even have to remove the foil from the top of the new Milo tins before they go into the units.

Sneaky buggers, eh?

[alleysweeper]

*points and laughs*

A spoon necklace.

[pdragon76]

WTF? Spoon necklace? Explain yourself, Alley.

[alleysweeper]

Hee! They make them at camp as a quick craft.

Take a small spoon and fold it down onto the handle and string a cord through the loop. Stronger kids can wrap the handle around itself and make knots.

On second thought, maybe it's not such a good idea. Your kids just might use them as bolas. *_~

[kayto1]

All I could think of was writing - because it means so much to you, your enthusiasm might carry through - maybe you could read the poem you posted earlier and talk about Veteran's Day and also the firefighters who fought last year's fires?

And then duck and cover as they pelt you with things for being English Teacher hokey...

Or - how about musical mashup? I have no idea how these are done, but they are the combination of songs...maybe work on creating one of those?

[pdragon76]

These are awesome ideas and I will totally pop them on the backburner for the girls unit, where the literacy rate is a lot higher. But in the boys units, about 80% of these guys can't actually read a sentence, so they get really threatened by wordy exercises.

But the girls will eat that shit up. They've all got books and stuff in their cells, for sure. They'll definitely get into that stuff. *adds to toolbox*

Thanks for the suggestions! *smish*