Easter Cards and Other Craft Ideas
Tessellating Bunnies and Geometric Designs Help Students Relax
Tessellating Easter Bunnies and Geometric Patterns can be the source of Great Easter Gift Ideas. Before holidays teachers look for inspiring educational activities.
These Art and math activities are more than “fill ins” they help the students stay focused on the theme and the spirit of Easter whilst imparting spatial and other mathematical concepts.
These links Animated Tessellating Bunny and Animal Tessellations provide the teacher with a relaxing and educational afternoon activity. The students can be lost in industry as they wait for the bell to ring to signal Easter has arrived.
Tessellating is like tiling. The same shape is repeated by tracing and positioning.
An image such as an Easter Bunny or Cute Hatching Chicken is created with simple line work so that the theme is cleverly woven into an almost hypnotic patterned effect.
The students create a shape from hard cardboard that they can repeatedly trace.
“Tessellations “are patterns formed by interlocking congruent figures (congruent means "the same size and the same shape")” In this case the shape will be that of an Easter Bunny a Cute little chicken or another relevant Easter Symbol.
Students will have fun, learn about aesthetics, hone up on their fine motor skills and learn about what kinds of repeat pattern designs they like.
This is a fun way to show the students mathematical concepts whilst at the same time guiding them artistically. In this case, the bonus is that students end up with an Easter Card to take home.
Either
- fold the paper in half and the students can write verse inside
- or cut the pattern out and paste it onto even heavier card.
Creating Tessellations can be so relaxing that it is could be called 'therapeutic - time out' for the teacher and student alike. The activity is ideal for the afternoon at the end of term when younger kids are waiting for the bell or older students are dreaming of exciting adventures ahead of them over the break.
Here are some ideas to extend the activity
(a) Further the mathematical nature of the craft activity by tracing the tessellations onto a gift box template
- cut this out when the tracings are finished
- decorate and create a gift box for an Easter Present
(b) Do the tracings around the rim of a pot
- Paint with acrylic
- and give a plant as an Easter gift
(c) Have the children make the tessellations by tracing them in fine black lines
- When this is done trace a large block letter over the pattern
- Have the students colour the inside of the letter with warm colours
- and outside the letter cool colours.
- Place out the letters to spell Have A Peaceful Easter.
(d) Trace simple geometric tessellations on thick card
- invite the children to create a board game from the patterns
These are only some of the ways teachers could work with tessellations in the lead up to the Easter break. If you have ideas or examples please post them to the discussion boards.
If you are looking for more ideas please read about other activities.
