​Anyone can make a cute bird with pretty feathers, air clay, and wooden clips.

Supplies: Air clay/wooden clip/cubic/feather/patterned paper

Let's make a small and cute bird using the supplies above.

First, make the body of the bird with air clay. This class was a good opportunity for students to explore the shape of birds.

Air clay is soft, so it's easy to put feathers in. Insert a wooden clip into the back of the air clay (the part that will become the tail). Put feathers on this spot.

If you arrange feathers of various shapes, sizes, and colors well, you can make an even more beautiful bird. Children will have a lot of fun at this time.

The wooden clip makes it look like a bird's legs. You can also attach it to any place you want.

After that, make wings with patterned paper and make eyes with cubic and attach them.

​Air clay dries quickly and becomes very light and soft after drying. Therefore, it is very useful for making this type of bird. I developed this craft to help my students understand birds more easily, and I am very happy to share the process.

In order to enhance my students' creativity, I experience the importance of crafts beyond painting or drawing. So I plan to develop various channels where children can experience crafts from various angles. First, below is a flower made with a kitchen towel. In the process of making flowers and coloring them, students will be able to explore various color theories. Below is a bird that I developed by making a bird with air crayons. When I have time, I plan to make a short video of the production process.

I am thankfully very fond of coming up with ideas for crafts. These ideas are endless. I hope my students will also become their own idea bank and continue to produce something with their creative minds. Below is an oriental painting frame. I put decorative lighting on the paper to make it shine like a lantern.

Below are some dolls made from masks. With these craft ideas, we will make the class more fun for children. Our creativity will continue to flow like a fountain that never dries up. Children will experience a different magic every day the moment they open the door to art class. This is my teaching philosophy.

I wanted to teach students the concept of upcycling, so I developed a new art. This is a mask girl using a common mask. I came up with the idea because I thought that I bought a few boxes during the pandemic and had not used them until now, and in a word, there were some unopened boxes left.

In my classes, I explore making fun crafts using common recycled items around us. Above all, crafts made from masks and clothes hangers can be a joy for children.

Since the pandemic, I have boxes of unused masks lying around. I decided to make some pretty props to use them. All you need is some decorative lightning wire and glitter stickers to make a beautiful decoration. This is a very economical craft that costs less than $2.

​If I get a chance, I will film the making process and post it.

Also, as one of the cultural approaches, I would like to introduce making a dream catcher using clothes hanger wire. I will also post the process later.

In graduate school, I learned the importance of encouraging children to make their own toys using recycled materials or props around them. It is exciting for children, especially in this day and age when everything is made to order, to learn the joy of making something themselves and creating through it.

Since fall, I have been preparing for the Save the Frogs Contest and the Songbirds Art Contest with my students. This is something that continues every year like a promise, and I enjoy it very much. More than anything, I think it is meaningful to protect nature and raise awareness about nature conservation through paintings. More than anything, my older sister is an environmental activist who is actively working in Korea, so I also feel a special affection for the environment. When I think about the infinite love and energy that nature gives us, it is only natural that I want to participate in even small things. Sometimes, I worry that the paints I use may be destroying the environment. Anyway, I prepare this kind of contest like an annual event every year. And the students also think about protecting nature and the environment through paintings. Every year, as I prepare for this contest with my students, I am moved to see their paintings and essays become richer and deeper.

So, I hope that more art teachers will get their students involved in these competitions if possible. I also hope that there will be more competitions like this.