We always start a new year at Kanhas with an increased focus on mantra meditation. This year we did some innovative crafts to get the children more excited about chanting the holy names. We especially love decorating bead bags. Once decorated the bead bag becomes a personalised item that the child is eager to use. These exciting crafts will get children chanting happily in no time!
Tie Dye bead bag decoration:
Material needed: White bead bag, rubber bands, sketch pens/texters/markers – any will do but thick tipped ones are more suitable
Take a plain white beadbag. Ask the child to roll it as tightly as they can. Put rubber bands at 1-2 inch width around the roll. Older children can manage this step on their own but younger ones will need help with the rubber bands.
Get the child to colour between the rubber bands. Encourage them to use different colours and let them colour for as long as they want.
Unroll the bead bag. Voila! Beautifully coloured bead bags looking as if they have been tie dyed! Put the beads in and get ready to chant!
Holy name decoration:
Write the word Hare, Krishna or Rama in large, thick width letters on paper. Let the children decorate the letters with colourful pompoms! We used 10 mm pompoms and my students loved putting one drop of glue and sticking one pompom to it. They filled the page. It was great for fine motor work and alphabet recognition too!
Some children are impatient and may not enjoy using pompoms. You can use dot markers, stickers, paint or even glitter to make it more interesting for everyone.
Counters:
You can use medium sized wooden/ plastic beads and shoe laces/beading wire to get the children to make their own counters. It is a fun beading and counting activity.
Holy name bracelets:
If you have alphabet beads you can use them with beading wire to make Hare Krishna bracelets. Help the children spell and find the correct letters among the beads. Then let them bead to make lovely bracelets.
More holy name crafts I have posted elsewhere:
Sorce: http://kanhasgarden.com.au/holy-name-crafts/#sthash.7GbBRT9x.dpuf
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