Helping Mia (age 4) make her paper bag house is English Specialist Juan-Pierre Taute. Originally from South Africa, Taute has been in China for seven months. He chose this activity because “it’s a great opportunity to learn the vocabulary associated with different parts of a house and the surroundings. I use the whole process to encourage the child’s conversational skills and to build up their confidence in using the English language.”
He tells us that Etonkids approaches arts and crafts in a way that ensures the children not only enjoy the activity but also learn from it. “We try to base our activities around our monthly themes. This month’s theme is On the Farm and the house we have made could easily be adapted to become a farm, complete with farmyard and animals!”
Mia is certainly absorbed in the activity. She enjoys deciding how many windows to add, and how many apples are growing on the tree. Getting the tree to stand up straight is a challenge though. “Uh oh,” she says. “It’s the wind blowing it over!” Taute jokes. “Never mind Mia, mine isn’t standing up either.” A bit of blu-tack solves the problem. I ask Mia who lives in her house. “My brother and sister,” she says.
Estimated time:
30 minutes
Suitable for:
Age 4+
Materials
• Brown paper bag
• Colored paper
(some pre-cutting by
an adult required)
• Crayons or markers
• Glue
Instructions
1. Glue the paper bag to a sheet of green paper. Fold and stick a smaller sheet as the roof.
2. Cut a rectangular piece for the door. For windows cut smaller squares, and mark with a cross. Stick them to the house.
3. Make a tree by rolling a sheet of brown paper into a tube. Fold it at the bottom and glue it onto the garden. Fold and attach the leaves. To make apples, scrunch up small pieces of red paper and stick them on.
4. Draw on a road. Add a flower to the garden, or whatever you want growing there!
This article originally appeared on page 32-23 of the April 2016 Issue of beijingkids. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.
Photos: Uni You
2 Comments
I’m quite pleased with Etonkids as a whole. There are some minor misgivings that I’ve had over the past two years, but nothing that would convince me to change schools. It has everything that I need, a good environment, and safety are the things that are the most important to me. I know my daughter is safe there, which is something I haven’t always found with my daughter at her last kindergarten. I would definitely recommend Etonkids to any parents.
Hi! Glad to hear that you would recommend Etonkids!