Raccoon School: birthdays

Both boys have a birthday coming up soon, and they want a pinata at their party. I thought it might be fun to make one. I found a great little how-to video on About.com.

It was surprisingly easy to make our pinata. Watch the video to learn how to make one for yourself. There are so many reasons to love this project.

It cost practically nothing. Seriously. The only expenses would be for the balloon, crepe paper, and flour. I had all this on hand anyway. A pinata at the store cost around $10.
Appropriate level of difficulty. I was surprised at how much Big Brother (almost 5) was able to successfully contribute to this craft. Little Brother (almost 3) wasn't interested. Oh well.
Small bursts of activity over several days. Although the entire project took several days to complete, the actual time spent working came in spurts of about 20 minutes, which was perfect for my son's attention span. Plus, the anticipation surrounding each new phase of the project was loads of fun!
Fine Motor. Lots of ripping (which didn't come as easily as I expected), stirring, and other fun fine motor work.
Tactile Sensory Input. The act of putting the newspaper in the flour/water mixture was awesome ooey-gooey fun!
Practice with step-by-step directions. Big Brother watched the how-to video dozens and dozens of times. He was so interested in absorbing every detail of the process. When we were executing the craft, it was clear that he had absorbed the process, and a few new vocabulary words as well!

I think this focus on step-by-step processes is beneficial for so many reasons:

Motor Planning. People with sensory issues often have difficulty planning out a course of action, even for simple tasks. Big Brother struggles with this sometimes.
Reading Comprehension. To comprehend the whole, one must analyze the parts and how they relate to one another.
Metacognition. Another important element of comprehension is recognizing when you don't understand something, and revisiting it again and again until you do. When I saw Big Brother watching the video again and again, I knew he was filling in the gaps of understanding for himself. I was so pleased!
Writing Composition. Although we are certainly in the early stages of this subject area, understanding step-by-step processes is a fundamental aspect of learning to write.
When Is It Okay to Not Follow the Process? Big Brother was a little rigid about following the instructions exactly. For example, he felt we must use pink and green crepe paper just like the woman did in the video. Luckily, he was able to let these expectations go after some discussion. It was good practice for him. Being overly rigid can be a big issue for him at times.