Circus Day
Posted by Douglas Hoover on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Under: Magic Class Experiences
At my Monday class we had Circus Day. Actually we had two days, part one last week and part two this week. I broke it up into two classes because we did Circus Belts as a project this time. Usually I demonstrate the belts and send home the instructions as "magic homework" but this time we all made the belts in class to take home.
It started off with my showing off the routine but instead of strips of newspaper like I have used in the past I used colored crepe paper. Red, white and blue to make the different belts. A friend had suggested crepe paper as an easy and fun substitute and he was right! The kids loved the color and it was easy to unroll to cut off strips.
As usual, I made a new set of loops for the next class by demonstrating how to make the loops. Then I walked around and cut off a strip of paper from the white roll for each student. (I recommend not using white as the practice color. Unfortunately references to it looking like toilet paper were made!) I let each student decide what loop they were going to make whether it would be for the mom and dad clowns, twins or Tiny the elephant. I came around with the glue stick and glued the ends together. Glue sticks are mandatory with crepe paper! Then I passed out scissors and let them cut the loops. It is critical you show how they only cut through one layer of paper and must keep straightening out the loop as they cut. Some students will cut through multiple layers at the twist and ruin the loop.
After we had fun seeing what everyone had made it came time to give each student a set to take home. I carried the white roll of paper and had two helpers carry the red and blue. We each pulled off about a two and a half foot section and I did the cutting. That made it go much faster.
For another class I used a roll of white adding machine paper and then gave them crepe paper to take home. The adding machine paper is easier to glue for the practice loops. Crepe paper gets soft and tears easy even with the glue stick.
Circus Day as an in class project was great. The kids really understand the process of making and cutting the loops much better. If you have the time give it a try!
It started off with my showing off the routine but instead of strips of newspaper like I have used in the past I used colored crepe paper. Red, white and blue to make the different belts. A friend had suggested crepe paper as an easy and fun substitute and he was right! The kids loved the color and it was easy to unroll to cut off strips.
As usual, I made a new set of loops for the next class by demonstrating how to make the loops. Then I walked around and cut off a strip of paper from the white roll for each student. (I recommend not using white as the practice color. Unfortunately references to it looking like toilet paper were made!) I let each student decide what loop they were going to make whether it would be for the mom and dad clowns, twins or Tiny the elephant. I came around with the glue stick and glued the ends together. Glue sticks are mandatory with crepe paper! Then I passed out scissors and let them cut the loops. It is critical you show how they only cut through one layer of paper and must keep straightening out the loop as they cut. Some students will cut through multiple layers at the twist and ruin the loop.
After we had fun seeing what everyone had made it came time to give each student a set to take home. I carried the white roll of paper and had two helpers carry the red and blue. We each pulled off about a two and a half foot section and I did the cutting. That made it go much faster.
For another class I used a roll of white adding machine paper and then gave them crepe paper to take home. The adding machine paper is easier to glue for the practice loops. Crepe paper gets soft and tears easy even with the glue stick.
Circus Day as an in class project was great. The kids really understand the process of making and cutting the loops much better. If you have the time give it a try!
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