Five Spring inspired activities to support your Arts Award delivery

Throughout the Hindu festival of Holi, large public celebrations are held where people throw brightly coloured powders and water at each other, resulting in a spectacular technicolour display. Inspired by images from the festival, young people can use a wide range of materials and techniques to create their own colourful clothes. You could try fabric crayons and pens, tie dye, spray paints and stencils, ribbons and sequins. Anything goes as long as it’s bright!

2. Hanami Art

The Japanese cherry blossom season and the festivities that take place around it when the flowers are in bloom have been inspiring artists for centuries. One idea for incorporating some Japanese culture into your Spring term activity is to link the paintings of Hiroshige or Hokusai to making cherry blossom paper scrolls. Use long lengths of paper to paint cherry blossom branches and flowers onto. Once dry, attach sticks or dowels horizontally to the top and bottom. Tie a length of string to each end of the top dowel so that it can be hung on the wall.

To find out more about more about how Japanese culture has inspired Arts Award projects, read about how Discover in a Day was delivered at Maidstone Museum.

3. Make your own bunnies

Springtime is synonymous with new life and it’s difficult to picture this time of year without conjuring images of chicks, rabbits and lambs. There are hundreds of ideas online for making bunnies, from paper masks and finger puppets to stuffed toys and decorations. These can all be made by using easily accessible and affordable materials such as paper plates and cups, cotton wool, old (clean but not worn out) socks, wool, pipe cleaners, etc. One thing’s for certain though – PVA glue is a must!

4. Easter treats

Whether it’s a homely Simnel cake or something indulgent and chocolatey, treats are a must at Easter! Whilst the act of baking itself is not an activity considered for Arts Award, cake decoration and creating sculptures with chocolate or sugar most certainly are. Tie in with performing extracts from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for added literacy and performing arts elements.

5. May Day!

Folk arts, including music, dance, crafts, plays and storytelling, are an integral part of May Day celebrations. Steeped in local history and traditions, it’s a fantastic occasion for children to learn about the area in which they live and the art forms that have been handed down through the generations. They can then use this to devise their own interpretations to perform at their local event.

For information on more folk inspired Arts Award projects, visit our Folk Arts blog.