Greeting cards for children

Making greeting cards — Read and Draw
Elementary to Intermediate

This activity is taken from Young Learners, by Sarah Phillips, which contains ideas and materials for activities such as making posters, books, and cards; making and playing with board games and puppets, as well as drama, songs, and stories.

The activity allows children to develop their reading skills from following a set of instructions. It provides the opportunity for the teacher to develop conversations with students relating to various occasions, and enables students to practise word associations.

Age group
6-8 years

Time
30 minutes

Aims
Language: to develop intensive reading skills.
Other: to practise drawing, colouring, and cutting-out skills.

Description
The children follow simple written instructions to make a Mother's Day greetings card. The technique can be adapted for other age groups and occasions.

Materials
A large copy of the picture (optional), flashcards (see Preparation, 4), a copy of 'Making greetings cards' (see above) for each child, a piece of thin card for each, an envelope for each card or a large piece of paper, coloured pencils, scissors, and glue.

Preparation
Make the card yourself so that the children can see a finished one.
Make a copy of 'Making greetings cards' for each child.
Cut a piece of thin card approximately 50cm × 15cm for each child.
Make flashcards with the words draw, colour, cut, stick, and the English names of colours on.

In Class
If necessary, teach the children the verbs and colours from the worksheet and put flashcards on the wall for reference while they are working. This can be done in the previous class.

Talk a little with the children in their native language about mothers (and about carers in general as some children are not cared for by their mothers, but by fathers, grandmothers, foster parents, or childminders), what they do for the children and for the family, and go on to talk to them about Mother's Day. Do they have Mother's Day in their country? If so, what do they do for their mothers/carers on that day?

Tell them that in Britain children give cards to their mothers/carers on Mother's Day. Show them the card that you have made and tell them they are going to make one for the person that looks after them.

Put up or sketch a big copy of the picture on the board and check that the children know the English vocabulary, writing it in like this if you think it is necessary:

Check that the children know how to read the colours by holding up flashcards with the English words on them and asking them to hold up a pencil of the corresponding colour.

Give each child a piece of card and show them how to fold it in half.

Give each child a worksheet. Read through the instructions together, checking at each step that the children understand what they are going to do.

Let the children start. Go around the class helping out where necessary. The language problems will mostly be vocabulary ones so you will be able to refer them to the board and flashcards.

When they finish let them look at each other's cards. Show them how to write ‘To . . .' and ‘With love from . . .' on the inside, telling them to write the name of their carer after ‘To' and their own name after ‘from'.

Finally, give out the envelopes and show the children how to write an address

Article published from Oxford University Press, 2007.