Erase Shivering
In winter, children in low-income families may lack warm coats, hats, or mittens. How can you help erase shivering with clothes and fuel that people need to stay warm?
1. "It’s not my day to wear the coat," was the answer when a teacher asked a child about her coat one winter day. People who live on low incomes often do not have basic items such as warm clothing. Imagine how cold you would be in a wintry climate without a coat, hat, and mittens!
2. Find out more about how poverty affects families during winter in your area. Discuss the issues in class. What are some ways to help them obtain warm clothing and fuel? All of us are responsible to help each other!
3. Sketch your solutions to this social problem with Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils. Perhaps you could adapt symbols from familiar books about low-income families. For example, to make a patchwork coat, erase dotted lines across the patches to look like stitching. Erase circles along the edge to show buttons. Color your poster with Erasable Colored Pencils and erase highlights.
4. Use Crayola Multicultural Markers to color people. Add shiny areas to your miniposter with Crayola Twistables. Include compelling words. Where will you post your message to encourage people to take action?
Adult supervision is required for any arts & crafts project. Observe children closely and intervene as necessary to prevent potential safety problems and ensure appropriate use of arts and crafts materials. Some craft items, particularly beads and buttons, are potential choking hazards for young children. Avoid use of such small parts with children younger than 3 years. Craft items such as scissors, push pins and chenille sticks may have sharp points or edges. Avoid use of materials with sharp points by children younger than 4 years. Read all manufacturers' safety warnings before using arts and craft supplies.
- Younger children and those with disabilities may grasp the issues better after reading children’s books about families living in poverty or talking with community volunteers who serve low-income families.
- Many organizations sponsor coat giveaways. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) collects unwanted fur coats and gives them to people in need. Other groups collect coats for residents of Native American reservations. Find out about organizations that recycle new or used coats. Organize a coat drive at your school.
- Debate whether coat giveaways solve the problem of poverty in the long term. What actions could make a lasting difference? Interview people at all levels of poverty eradication to find out what they think.
- Assessment: Observe how realistic student solutions are and how well these solutions are portrayed in their miniposters.
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