{"id":1821,"date":"2020-04-09T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/?p=1821"},"modified":"2020-04-09T10:24:29","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T09:24:29","slug":"easter-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/easter-creativity\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter Creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>While we can\u2019t bring you any of our events, we\u2019ve come up\nwith a few ways to introduce a bit of colour and creativity into your time at\nhome. These activities are all designed to be fun and silly and none of them\nrequire special materials. There\u2019s something for a range of ages, to hopefully\nsuit you and everyone might be isolating with. You can try some of them out\nover the Easter weekend! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Over the next few weeks, we\u2019ll give you some more suggestions for activities and our next instalment will look at animation! Anifest has launched a competition called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canterburyanifest.com\/animationinisolation\">Animation in Isolation<\/a>. Everyone is welcome to enter and if you\u2019ve never even thought about making an animation, we\u2019ll give you some easy ways to start.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please share all your creations with us on Instagram\n(@cccu_artsandculture) or Twitter (@cccu_culture)! We look forward to seeing\nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>DIY glue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This simple glue will come in useful for a variety of\nprojects if you can\u2019t get hold of any craft glue. It is good for papier m\u00e2ch\u00e9,\ncollage and other paper craft. Assuming you can find flour, of course&#8230; Store\nany leftover glue in a covered container in the fridge and use within a couple\nof days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Mix one cup of flour with one cup of water until\nyou get a thick PVA glue-like consistency. Add more water if it&#8217;s too thick,\nadd more flour if it\u2019s too runny. Adapt it to your needs.<\/li><li>Mix well with a spoon or fork to get rid of all\nthe lumps.&nbsp; If you find you are getting\nlumps, you can use a small kitchen electric mixer to whizz them out.<\/li><li>Add a few tablespoons of salt to the final\nmixture to help prevent mould and mix well.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Papier m\u00e2ch\u00e9 Easter eggs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This craft is suitable for all ages, though younger children\nwill need supervision (and a bit of help!).This is an easy project to\ndo over a couple of days in little sessions so great for short attention spans!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>strips of newspaper\/magazine\/tissue<\/li><li>watered down glue: PVA, or make your own (see\nabove)<\/li><li>mixing bowl<\/li><li>balloon, inflated<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Dip the strips of paper in the glue mixture.<\/li><li>Cover your balloon in 4 \u2013 5 layers of papier\nm\u00e2ch\u00e9. Let it dry completely in between each layer. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Papier M\u00e2ch\u00e9 Easter Eggs\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1lkpwN596ks?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The final layer can be plain paper so it&#8217;s\neasier to paint\/decorate. The best paper to use is thin, so it absorbs lots of\nglue, like kitchen paper.<\/li><li>Once completely dry, decorate it! You could use\nany art materials you have at home, or try one of the following:<\/li><li>Collaged pictures from magazines (stuck on with\nthe same glue mixture as before)<\/li><li>Homemade dyes: mix spices (turmeric works well)\nwith water, or boil vegetables (red cabbage, spinach and beetroot work well) in\na little water. You can still eat the vegetables afterwards!<\/li><li>Flowers and greenery from the garden \u2013 use it\nhas a table centre for Easter Sunday! <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Edible easter egg art for babies and toddlers (sitting in\na high chair, from approx. 6 months)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is suitable for all little ones that are still putting\neverything in their mouth. It\u2019s a great sensory experience for babies to play\nwith their food, it teaches them a lot and you can be sure none of the food you\nuse will be \u2018wasted\u2019. Smaller babies could play with the smoother foods (i.e.\nyoghurt and mashed banana) during tummy time; lay them on a plastic sheet, or\non a tiled floor, for easy clean up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Dress your child in clothes you don\u2019t mind getting messy, or strip them down to their nappy if it\u2019s warm.<\/li><li>Sit them somewhere where you can contain the mess: the highchair is ideal, or the bath or in the garden.<\/li><li>Find some good \u2018messy\u2019 foods. You can add a very small amount of food colouring, or berries, to liven it up, or just use the natural colours. Obviously be aware of your baby\u2019s allergies or intolerances, and choking hazards. Here are some ideas:<ol><li>Yoghurt<\/li><li>Mashed potato or sweet potato<\/li><li>Mashed\/sliced banana<\/li><li>Porridge\/oatmeal<\/li><li>Berries<\/li><li>Baked beans<\/li><\/ol><\/li><li>Introduce the food\/\u2019paint\u2019 to the tray of the highchair, or in a bowl or tray wherever you\u2019ve decided to play, and let them explore the textures with their fingers. They will get messy, they may eat some. It\u2019s a good time to schedule a bath!<\/li><li>Document their work:<ol><li><strong>Either<\/strong>: Cut an egg-shaped hole in a piece of paper. You can write a message on the paper. Hold the egg-shaped frame over the \u2018artwork\u2019, and take a picture.<\/li><li><strong>Or<\/strong>: Cut out an egg shape from a piece of paper and press it into the artwork (baby can help with this!) Put the paper against a plain background and take a photo.<\/li><\/ol><\/li><li>Email the picture to family and friends, or post on social media, as a fun Easter greeting.<\/li><li>Older children could do similar, but write their own messages, or use \u2018normal\u2019 art supplies.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Child's hands playing with edible paint in a highchair\" class=\"wp-image-1822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-1-680x510.jpg 680w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"728\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-2-728x1024.jpg\" alt=\"White Paper with an egg shape cut in middle held over edible paint so you can see the paint colour through the cut out. Text below read Happy Easter\" class=\"wp-image-1825\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-2-728x1024.jpg 728w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-2-213x300.jpg 213w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-2-768x1080.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-2-1092x1536.jpg 1092w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-2-680x956.jpg 680w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/hayleys-egg-2.jpg 1456w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paper plate Easter decorations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Paper plate or card (cut some circles from your\nrecycling)<\/li><li>Collage materials: cotton wool, tissue, wrapping\npaper, wallpaper, fabric, magazines <\/li><li>Glue, homemade glue (see above) or tape<\/li><li>Brush <\/li><li>Scissors<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Use your materials to decorate your plate or\ncard.<\/li><li>Chick: Cut wings, a beak, and legs from paper or\ncard. Stick on feathers, or cut feather shapes from paper or fabric. Paint some\neyes, cut some out of white paper, or use googly eyes.<\/li><li>Lamb: Use cotton wool or balls of tissue to make\nthe lamb\u2019s wool. Cut legs and a face from card. Draw\/paint\/stick features on\nthe face.<\/li><li>Rabbit: Cut ears and paws from paper or card.\nDesign a face with a nose, teeth and whiskers. <\/li><li>Egg: Cut or paint pretty repeating patterns for\nyour egg. You could trim the plate\/circle into an egg shape. Use finger\npainting to make a multicoloured spotty pattern.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"557\" height=\"477\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/tinas-paper-chick.jpg\" alt=\"Paper chick\" class=\"wp-image-1829\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/tinas-paper-chick.jpg 557w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/tinas-paper-chick-300x257.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 557px) 100vw, 557px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Contour drawing\/continuous line<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Choose a small selection of objects (3 or 4)\nfrom around the house. Pick items with an Easter\/spring theme and place them in\na pleasing arrangement, or maybe you can arrange them in an egg or cross shape.<\/li><li>Take one sheet of paper. A4 will do but the\nlarger the better. The inside of a cereal box would work.<\/li><li>Choose a drawing implement. A biro would do. Or\na marker pen, if you\u2019re using card. Or a good old fashioned pencil. You\u2019re not\nallowed to rub anything out so it doesn\u2019t matter.<\/li><li>Draw the objects in front of you without taking\nyour pen off the paper. You can double-back over your lines. Try and plan ahead\nso you don\u2019t get stuck in a corner!<\/li><li>Be brave and just have a go!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/kellie-contour-drawing-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Contour drawing of groceries such as pasta packet, toilet roll and an open bag of chips\" class=\"wp-image-1830\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/kellie-contour-drawing-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/kellie-contour-drawing-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/kellie-contour-drawing-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/kellie-contour-drawing-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/kellie-contour-drawing-680x510.jpg 680w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/kellie-contour-drawing.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"498\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/jacks-contour-drawing-498x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Contour drawing of a boy. Text reads Jack age 9\" class=\"wp-image-1833\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/jacks-contour-drawing-498x1024.jpg 498w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/jacks-contour-drawing-146x300.jpg 146w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/jacks-contour-drawing-768x1579.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/jacks-contour-drawing-747x1536.jpg 747w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/jacks-contour-drawing-680x1398.jpg 680w, https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/jacks-contour-drawing.jpg 996w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Blog written by CCCU Arts and Culture<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While we can\u2019t bring you any of our events, we\u2019ve come up with a few ways to introduce a bit of colour and creativity into your time at home. These [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6577,"featured_media":1841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[333,329,93],"tags":[341,338,345,334,94],"class_list":["post-1821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-creativity","category-wellbeing","tag-activities","tag-art","tag-creativity","tag-easter","tag-wellbeing"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"authorName":"Zoe Connell","featuredImage":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/602\/2020\/04\/easter-creativity.jpg","postExcerpt":"While we can\u2019t bring you any of our events, we\u2019ve come up with a few ways to introduce a bit of colour and creativity into your time at home. These [&hellip;]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6577"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1821"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1845,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions\/1845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}