Materials you can use (Kenyan homes & schools)

• Old newspapers and magazines, coloured paper, scrap kitenge or cloth, cardboard from cereal boxes
• Child-safe (blunt) scissors, ruler, pencil, eraser
• Glue stick or white school glue (PVA). Homemade flour paste: 1 cup flour + 1½ cups water (cook gently) — ask an adult to help
• Optional: crayons, poster paints, sequins, leaves, feathers, bottle caps

Safety rules (very important)

1. Always use child-safe scissors. Cut away from your body and keep fingers away from the blades.
2. Ask an adult to help when heating paste or using sharp tools.
3. Keep your workspace clean and wipe glue spills quickly.
4. Do not eat craft materials. Wash hands after craft time.

Basic cutting techniques

Basic pasting techniques

• Glue stick: clean, best for paper-to-paper. Press firmly for 10 seconds.
• White PVA glue: spread a thin layer. Too much glue makes paper wet and wrinkly.
• Flour paste: thicker for heavier materials like cardboard. Let dry under a book for flat joining.
• Layering: paste larger shapes first, then smaller details on top. This helps a picture look neat.

Step-by-step activity 1 — Simple Animal Collage (Giraffe)

1. Take a piece of cardboard as your base.
2. Draw a long neck and body shape on yellow paper. Draw ears and spots on brown paper.
3. Cut out the shapes using straight and curved cuts.
4. Paste the yellow body onto the cardboard first, then paste spots, eyes and legs.
5. Add background: green torn paper for grass, blue for the sky.
6. Let it dry, then outline the giraffe with a black crayon to show details.

Step-by-step activity 2 — Kenyan Flag Greeting Card

1. Fold a piece of A4 paper in half to make a card.
2. Cut three strips of paper: black, red and green. Add thin white strips between them.
3. Paste the strips across the front of the card in the order: black, white, red, white, green.
4. Cut a small shield shape (black with white and red details) from paper and paste it in the middle.
5. Write a message inside: "Asante! Happy Holidays!" or a short greeting in Kiswahili: "Salamu!"

Step-by-step activity 3 — Paper Mosaic (Easy)

1. Draw a simple shape on cardboard, for example a sun or fish.
2. Cut small squares or snippets from coloured paper (about 1–2 cm).
3. Apply paste in small areas and press snippets close together to fill the shape.
4. When dry, outline the shape with a dark crayon for a clean edge.

Simple practice tasks

• Cut 5 different shapes (square, circle, triangle, heart, leaf) and paste them to make a picture.
• Make a greeting card for a family member using at least three pasting techniques.
• Collect and reuse materials from home to make one recycled picture.

How the teacher or parent can help

• Show how to hold and use scissors safely. Demonstrate one technique at a time.
• Help prepare flour paste and supervise heating. Suggest safe substitutes (glue stick).
• Encourage creativity: let the child choose colours and materials. Praise effort, not just the result.

Clean up and care

• Keep a small cloth for glue spills and a container for scraps to reuse later.
• Store scissors in a safe place and label glue bottles.
• Hang finished pictures to dry on a string with pegs or pinboard.

Quick quiz (talk about answers)

1. Why should you use little glue rather than a lot? (Answer: too much makes paper wet and messy)
2. Name two things you can use to make a collage in our Kenyan homes. (Answer: old newspapers, kitenge scraps, leaves)
3. How do you cut a safe curve with scissors? (Answer: make many small cuts and guide the paper slowly)