As Coronation Day fast approaches we thought we would share some fun art activities you can do with your group, if you are looking for ways to mark this historic event. These activities could also be used to evidence some Arts Award criteria.
Hang some Union Jack bunting
What could be more British than bunting? Certainly your Coronation Day celebrations won’t be complete without hanging some bunting. Your group can make their bunting by printing off and decorating this free template, you will also need some string or ribbon, glue, scissors, A4 card and some red, white and blue pencils/crayons!
Or if you have an older, or more ambitious, group you could sew some fabric bunting following these instructions, you will need ribbon, fabric, fabric scissors, yarn, glue and some pins. If you don’t have sewing machine you could use a needle and thread.
Read a book
Did you know The Queen Consort runs a book club? The Queen’s Reading Room contains book recommendations, interviews with authors, as well as readings by authors and actors. There is also a list of children’s book recommendations by HRH The Princess of Wales. It seems very appropriate, then, to take this opportunity to read a book about the coronation, such as this book about Our King Charles, with your group. Or you could think about writing a poem, you could take inspiration from these Poems about Kings and Queens. This could also provide a good opportunity to meet some English or History objectives. Go ahead and read a book, it’s what The Queen would want!
Build a castle
Your group could build their own Windsor Castle from cardboard. You will need cardboard, kitchen roll, scissors, pencil, some paint, string, split-pins, masking tape, and some markers or felt tip pens. Follow this video guide to build your castle.
Or, if you think this may be a little complicated for your group, don’t forget they could also draw or paint a castle, or you could give them some colouring pages to decorate.
Keep it green!
In tribute to The King’s passion for the environment you could do some ‘recycled art’ which would provide an opportunity to both do an arts activity and educate your young people about the environment and the importance of protecting it, potentially meeting some PSHE objectives. Recycled art, as the name suggests, is made from the waste of items you have already used, such as plastic bottles, egg cartons, old fabric, cereal boxes, bubble wrap, or empty jars. You could take inspiration from these recycled art projects such as creating a bird feeder from old toilet roll tubes, making wind chimes from tin cans, or making an egg carton dragonfly.
Cake decorating
What is a good party without cake? While baking is not a suitable activity for Arts Award, designing and decorating a cake can be, so encourage your students to be really creative! Maybe they could design a beautiful crown or a miniature Yeomen of the Guard, or they could take inspiration from some famous British symbols and make a Big Ben or a red post box sugar sculpture.
Design a postage stamp
As we will soon be using new postage stamps, what a great opportunity to ask your group to design their own. These could be featuring The King’s profile, or maybe your young people would want to draw themselves, or something or someone they like instead. You can use this free template for the stamp, and decorate with whatever you have to hand, such as crayons, paint, or tissue paper and glue.
Throw a concert
If you can’t get tickets to the Coronation Concert, do the next best thing, and have your own! You could learn this coronation song as a group to perform during a special assembly. You could include traditional assembly songs, or choose your favourite pop songs by British artists to ensure your assembly has a suitably patriotic twist!
Don’t forget your crown!
And of course, most importantly, your little kings and queens will need a crown! You will need coloured card, pencil, ruler, glue, scissors, and some decorations for your crown such as glitter, pompoms, fabric cut offs, or you could use shiny or metallic paper to make jewels. You can follow these instructions to assemble your crown.
The activities suggested here are best suited to Discover Part A and Explore Part A and C, please do make sure to refer to your adviser toolkit for evidence requirements for these parts.
Photography by Chris Boland www.chrisboland.com
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