All You Need is Paper (and a little love) ESL/EFL activities

In Brazil, we celebrate Father's Day on the second Sunday in August. I got this idea for my first-graders on Pinterest. We painted the hands in one class and the following class they drew themselves in the middle so it would look like they were about to hug their dad. I wrote I love you on the board for them to copy and they all practiced saying Happy Father's Day as I took their pictures. I thought this was so easy and adorable, plus, it can be used for other events, like, Mother's or Family Day, Valentine's Day or even to reinnforce vocabulary like hug or parts of the body. Happy Day, everyone!  

I made a mini advent calendar for the week before Thanksgiving. Students cut out 8 leaves and write something they can do each day. Then, they paste the leaves over what they wrote by adding just a little glue at the tip of each one, so they can lift them up to see what's written underneath. They can make these to gift to a classmate or to take home to do with their families. I glued a paper handle on the back, so they can be hung on a doorknob or any other place.  The teacher can brainstorm what the students can write under the leaves, or let each student use their own creativity. Another idea is to make a collective one for the whole class to do together.  Hope you all have a nice time with your families this November. Stay safe and remember we always have something to be thankful for.  

This easy to make Mother's Day paper bag won everybody's heart. All you need is a sheet of paper, any color is fine, 2 paper bag handles, and some more paper in different colors to make the hearts, flowers and circles. Fold one sheet in the middle, glue the handles on the inside like in the photo, glue the sides, draw as many flowers, circles and hearts as you like. Write some words or messages in the hearts, glue them onto the top of a white sheet of paper, and you can let the kids be creative and write or draw something on the white sheet. I glued all the flowers and circles on one side and wrote Happy Mother's Day on the other side. Place the white sheet with the hearts in the bag, and it looks like the bag is filled with hearts. My students really loved making this, and it was pretty easy for them, even though they're still having classes via Zoom. I hope their moms liked them as much as they did.      

  Valentine's Day is here! The much awaited (or not so much) time of the year. Here's a looks-hard-but-it's-easy-to-do card you can make with your students or by yourself to gift someone. You're going to need 2 sheets of papers, a white one and another one in a different color. I made a pink and a black one. I've already posted a video on how to make this here when I wrote about the Mood Tracker, so it's the same idea but this time you can right a person's name on it using different lettering, add doodles and decorate it however you want. You have to do the drawing and writing after the white papers are in place. You can also write something on the cover or maybe even make an envelope for it. Here's the video on how to fold and cut the papers for you again: Hope your students get creative with it. Have a Happy Valentine's day!