Easy Easter Paper Collage

I saw a really cute Easter craft on Pinterest from Julep that used strips of pretty paper glued on a white sheet of paper. Then, another white sheet of paper was glued on top with an egg shape cut out. It was a simple project that produce nice results, but Miss Bubbles is not ready to cut in straight lines yet. She is still learning how to properly hold scissors and cut, so I decided to simplify the project to accommodate her current level of development.

I simply let Miss Bubbles cut and sometimes tear shapes out of paper and glue them to a white sheet of paper using basic school glue. She spent an hour meticulously cutting and glueing little bits of colored paper to the white sheet of paper. I took another sheet of white paper and cut out a hole in the shape of an egg. When Miss Bubbles was done with her collage, I glue the second sheet of paper on top of the first sheet of paper.

Miss Bubbles is very proud of her egg. The egg came out bring and colorful, and Miss Bubbles got to practice scissor cutting skills.

Materials

construction paper or other colored paper
scissors
school glue
2 sheets of white paper

Directions

1. Cut or tear bits of colored paper.
2. Paste the colored paper on the first sheet of white paper.
3. Cut out a hole in the second sheet of paper in the shape of an egg.
4. Past the egg hole paper on top of the collage paper.
5. Allow the egg to dry and enjoy!

Peru Nazca Lines Craft

We came across Nazca lines in our reading book, Reading forGifted Children Grade 1, so we decided to dive in deeper and learn more about these fascination lines found in Peru, South America. Nazca lines were made by ancient people in the Nazca desert. The Nazca people lived from 400 to 650 AD. They made these lines removing the thin top layer of red brown pebbles to reveal a grayish tan colored dirt underneath. The lines form large complex figures such as monkeys, hummingbirds, and lizards that are best viewed from the air.

In the series, Solving History with Olly Steeds, Olly sets out to find out why the Nazca lines were made. In the show, he quickly debunks 3 hypotheses about the lines: the lines correspond to constellations, aliens made the lines, and the lines correspond to water. After interviewing a series of archeologists, locals, grave robbers, and after attempting to obtain the knowledge himself by visiting a shaman to go on a vision quest with the aid of the hallucinogenic cactus, San Pedro, comes to the hypothesis that the lines were formed by processionals during religious ceremonies. Along the lines anthropologists have found smashed pottery that reveals patterns of being smashed and not accidentally dropped. Additionally, shells from the Pacific Ocean were found along the lines. Furthermore, the lines reveal that the soil underneath is very compact meaning that people have been walking over and over along the same path. Taken together researchers hypothesize that these lines were simply processional paths used during religious ceremonies.

Since it is winter time outside and our ground is frozen, Little BBQ and I decided to do an indoor craft about Nazca lines. This is a very simple project used to represent Nazca lines on a very small scale.

Materials

• Sheet of sand paper
• 1 Crayon (preferably lighter in color than the sand paper)
• Pictures of Nazca lines (see links below)

Directions

1.       Draw a Nazca lines on the sand paper keeping in mind that most Nazca lines were of animals found in Peru or complex geometric patterns. 

Sources

Reading for the Gifted Student Grade 1
Solving History with Olly Steeds season 1 episode 2 (available on Netflix)

Photos of Nazca Lines

Spider, Hummingbird, and Spirals
Map of Nazca Line Locations
Monkey and Short Video on Nazca Lines