Roman crafts

heartofyourhouse

Nov 26

I was given the job of preparing several crafts for our Holiday Bible Club. The theme of the week was Roman Rescue, so I planned crafts that had a Roman feel, although that wasn't essential.

The first craft that we did was Roman medallions made with a circle of thick cardboard, some string, two circles of foil (one the same size as the cardboard circle and one slightly larger) and a selection of coloured permanent markers.

Just draw a design onto the cardboard and then cover it with glue (pritt stick). Lay pieces of string along the lines of your design. Then cover it with the larger piece of foil. Gently rub the foil onto the cardboard around the string (a cotton bud can be a useful tool for this). Tuck the edges over onto the back. Stick the second piece of foil onto the back to hide the untidy edges. Finally, use your pens to colour in your design. I found it most effective to colour around the string so that the design really stands out.

Our next craft was a catapult made of jumbo craft sticks, elastic bands, a plastic bottle lid and a small polystyrene ball. This is a simple idea and was the quickest craft to complete. A friend made us some targets for the children to practice their aim.

Start with six craft sticks in a stack. Secure them with an elastic band at either end. Then lay the remaining two sticks across the stack with ones above and one below. Secure one end with an elastic band and then twist another band around the centre where the sticks cross. Finally, stick a bottle lid to the top of the catapult with some double sided tape and then decorate with coloured pens if you want to.

Our final craft was a pouch, with a game of Three Men's Morris inside, made out of a circle of fleece blanket (bought for a few pounds from a charity shop). You also need some string, a few pony beads, a thick pen (we used permanent marker but anything that shows up on the material), and some counters (we collected conkers, acorns and beech masts - you need to sets of three).

Start by cutting a circle of fabric (I used a side plate to draw around but you can make a larger pouch if you want). Then draw a series of small marks one centimetre inside the edge of the circle (I used a saucer to mark out these). Imagine the numbers on a clock face and put a mark either side of each imaginary number. Use the marks to cut small slits, taking care not to cut too close to the edge of the fabric (I found it easiest to fold the fabric over to make a tiny snip). Use these snips to thread your string in and out. Then pull the string to make a pouch and add some beads to the end of the string. I like to thread both ends through one bead and then separate the strings to add a couple more beads to each. I found that this makes it easier to close up the pouch.

To make the game, use a pen to mark out 9 dots in a large grid. Then join the dots with a ruler, including diagonals (it should look like a square Union Jack). Add your counters, two sets of three, close up your pouch and your ready to challenge someone to a game of Three Men's Morris. Take it in turns to place a counter on one of the dots, with the aim of getting three in a row. Once you run out of counters (you only have three each) you are allowed to move one of your counters to a new position.