Brazil Activities

[Blietek]

**Native Crafts**

Use colorful feathers to make a Yanomami headdress.

In the Amazon jungles of Brazil, native people called Yanomami use
bird feathers to make headdresses and armbands. Make your own
headdress and armband using supplies from the craft store. Buy a bag
of colorful feathers, or cut feather-shaped pieces out of colored
construction paper. Draw lines on the paper to resemble the markings
of a feather. Cut a 1-inch strip of posterboard to fit around your
upper arm or your head. Glue or staple the feathers to the strip and
staple the band closed.

***********************************************************************************************************************************

**Paper Plate Maracas**

Music is a very important part of the Brazilian culture. Have
children create maracas out of paper plates that they can shake to
make their own music. For this craft, you will need one paper plate
per child, paint, crepe paper streamers, uncooked macaroni and a
stapler. Provide children with one paper plate and have them decorate
the back of it however they wish, using paint. Once the paint dries,
fold the paper plate in half so that it makes a half-moon shape. Use
the stapler to staple the edges of the paper plate closed, leaving a
portion open at the top. Pour uncooked macaroni into the paper plate
via the portion that is left open. Seal the hole with staples. Finish
the craft by stapling pieces of crepe around the edges. When the craft
is complete, the children can shake their maracas to make music.

***********************************************************************************************************************************

**Macaroni Necklace**

Brazilians enjoy wearing vibrant jewelry as a means of self-
expression. Allow children to create their own vibrant jewelry with
macaroni. For this project, select a variety of different types of
macaroni noodles, such as ziti and elbows. You will also need craft
paint in a variety of colors, paintbrushes and lengths of string.
Provide children with macaroni, paint and paintbrushes. Allow them to
choose whichever type of macaroni they'd like and have them paint it.
Set the noodles aside to dry. Once dry, children can place their
noodles onto a string. Tie the ends of the strings together and they
will have their own unique necklaces that they can wear.


**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

These activities come from: http://www.ehow.com/info-tip_8307167_craft-activities-brazil-kids.html#ixzz1uhxV5UuD

***********************************************************************************************************************************

**Bottle-cap Tambourines**

Materials:
Strong, Y-shaped branch, preferably hardwood
Dozen metal bottle caps
Strong wire
Acrylic paint and brushes
Assorted decorations; feathers, colored cord, or beads

Instructions

Bottle-cap Tambourines - Step 1 Decorate the stick with paints
and feathers.

Remove the rubber liners from the bottle caps by having an
adult "cook" them for five minutes on a hot outdoor grill (this step
is optional but recommended, as it greatly improves the sound).

Flatten the caps with a hammer, then use a nail to punch a
small hole in the center of each cap. Then thread the caps onto the
wire and string tautly between the arms of the Y.

***********************************************************************************************************************************
***********************************************************************************************************************************

This activity comes from: http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/bottle-cap-tambourines-665451/

***********************************************************************************************************************************

**Paper Plate Soccer Plaque**

What you'll need:

Paper plate
Red craft paint
Black crayon
Glue stick
12" piece of white yarn
Tape
24" yellow crepe paper streamer
Scissors
Medium pom-poms, 6 each color: red, yellow, black
White craft glue
Pattern


How to make it:

Paint the paper plate red and let dry. (See photo.)
Print and cut out the soccer ball pattern. Color the shaded areas
black with a crayon. Trace the joining lines as well. (See photo.)
Cover the back of the soccer ball with a glue stick and attach to
the center of the paper plate. (See photo.)
Attach the yarn as a hanger to the back of the plate using tape.
(See photo.)
Cut the streamer into two pieces, one a little bit longer than the
other. Set the longer strip aside. Cut 1/3 of the width off the
remaining strip to give you two strips of equal length. One strip
should be thin and the other wide.
Tape the longest, widest strip to the back of the plate, in the
center. Tape the two medium width strips on either side of the widest,
then finally, tape the thin strips on either side of the medium
strips. When taping the strips on, vary the lengths that will show
from the front. (See photo.)
Turn the plate right side up and using white glue, attach pom-poms
around the border of the plate, about an inch or so apart, alternating
colors as you go. (See photo.)

***********************************************************************************************************************************

**Forest Collage**

ShareThis
Use interesting textures and colors of paper and fabric to create a
forest collage. Create a pine forest, an autumn forest, a woodland
forest, or a rainforest. You can even add animals to make your forest
come alive.
Safety Tips

Young kids (3 to 8 years) should use child-safe scissors.

Materials

All sorts of paper and fabric:
construction paper, gift wrap paper, textured paper, magazine
pages, sand paper, etc.
Construction paper
Animal cut-outs or print-outs (optional)
Scissors
Glue stick
Poster paint (optional)

Instructions:

1. Draw a tree with the trunk separate from the treetop, or print out
this tree template.

2. Cut out the tree template. We will use it to make 3 or more trees
for your collage. There are two basic ways you can go about this:

a.) Trace the tree template on all sorts of paper or fabric and cut
them out. If you choose to work with only one type of paper, use at
least 2 color shades of green for the treetop and 2 shades of brown
for the tree trunk.

b.) Make more tree print-outs or draw more trees. Cut them out and
paint on the trees as you please.

You can achieve texture by sponge painting, dry brush painting, potato
stamping, roller brush painting, etc. For the trunk, you can make a
bark-like effect by crumpling up the paper before painting on it. You
may also deviate from the usual green treetop and make autumn-colored
trees.

3. Cut out a paper background large enough to accommodate all your
trees. Layout your trees on the background paper, positioning some
trees slightly at the back to create some depth. Don't worry about
going a little over the edges of your paper background. However, be
sure to leave some space on areas where you plan to add other details
later (in this case, along the foreground).

4. Glue the trees onto the background, starting with the trees at the
back. A special note if you plan to add animals- leave out some areas
along the trunk where you can hook on or partially insert an animal.
The ideal areas where you can apply glue are circled out in red.

5. Cut out additional details for your forest such as grass, bushes,
ferns, or a body of water. You can use a lot of the paper scraps from
the previous steps. Note that you can combine smaller paper shapes to
create bigger elements, like the plant at the lower right of the
photo.

6. Glue the details onto your picture. Again, if you want to add
animals, we recommend that you apply glue only at the bottom edge of
the pieces.

7. Trim the edges of your picture.

8. You can add animals if you like. Draw your own animals or cut out
animals from old magazines. You can also print out these animal
templates:

9. Position the animals in your collage. You can hook them on
branches or slip them behind tree trunks or grass. Glue or tape them
in place, if necessary.

***********************************************************************************************************************************
Bromeliad with tadpoles

What you will need:

A 10-ounce plastic or paper cup
Green and red construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Colored markers or crayons
Water
Live tadpoles (optional)

What to do:

Cut out Pattern A, leaving Pattern B inside it. Trace around Pattern A
on red paper.

Then cut out Pattern B (the green pattern). Trace around Pattern B on
green paper.

To make a paper bromeliad, wrap the red paper (Pattern A) around a
paper cup as shown. Glue the paper in place.

Then wrap the green paper (Pattern B) around the cup as shown. Glue
the paper in place. Pull the bromeliad leaves down to make them curve.

Color the poison-arrow frog red with "blue jeans." Cut the frog out
and glue it to a leaf of the bromeliad.

Put some water in the cup to represent the water that collects in the
bromeliad tank. In spring, you might even catch live tadpoles to put
in the cup of water!

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

These activities come from: http://www.squidoo.com/around-the-world-crafts-for-kids#module152872696

***********************************************************************************************************************************