Ideas / suggestions / HELP please - 10 minute craft ideas for 5-8 year old children.

[OlderGlaswegianLivingInDevon]

Although I have been on MN for just over a year, this is my 1st thread.

I have to provide a 10 minute craft session for 4 children, I guess they are aged 5 - 8, 10 mins does not seem long enough for the children to actually make / finish something.

I may have one child from Reception and Years 1, 2 + 3 ?

Reason - I have been invited for an interview for an after school assistant position. It has been many years since my dc were young and I don't now recall doing anything ' crafty ' with mine.

Googling is just making my head dizzy !

tho I did see that the Chinese New Year is coming up, and it is the year of the snake.

So I did wonder about making a paper chain snake - but I feel this may be too young ? as the Pinterest page did seem to be re a pre schooler.

and pipe cleaner snakes also appear to be for pre schoolers :(

I expect that I am going to provide any / all materials,

and that the session with the children will be in the hall - so no access to/for me re water / microwave / cooker so I can't consider making play dough etc. or chocolate cornflake cakes etc. - besides allergies / vegans to consider.

as the title says - ideas / suggestions / help

Please

and

Thank you !

Using air drying clay and match sticks (craft ones) making a hedgehog. Can get brown clay, time to paint sticks and stick them in hedgehog and 10 mins done.

@PestoPastaChaChaCha

ooh never knew such a thing existed !
and a quick Google tells me that the shop Hobbycraft sell it and 1kg of terracotta colour is half price right now :) and it sells craft matchsticks too.

and my nearest shop is on my way to/from work !

Thank you

Not an expert but hopefully that’s an idea. Good luck with the interview.

Stained glass window with sticky back clear film and torn up tissue paper - if youve torn it up already it's very quick and they can make their own designs - maybe give it a theme . Precut some frames in a coloured paper.

You could also make homemade slime.

Conkers and pipe cleaners make some fun creatures like spiders or deer

Paper plates to draw faces, wool to stick on for hair?

Paper lanterns? They are pretty quick.

Some kind of origami thing, like the jumping frog. But that might be a bit much for a Reception child?

Make a card. Thats just folded card and some colouring pens. Or glue and decorate with glitter/paper shapes/stuff

Origami? Something easy like a fortune teller?

All these ideas are great, and full disclosure: I’m not a teacher or anything but maybe they might like to hear how you could adjust your suggestions for kids who are slower, or have more difficulty and for those who are very quick.

@EveryKneeShallBow makes a good point about varying your craft activity for different abilities.
eg make sure clay is ready and soft as possible. Divide into approximately suitable pieces and subtly preshape for a child having difficulty.
Make one yourself, for fun, so an unsure child can copy you.

Extension- make a hedgehog family, or use tiny spare bits of clay to make slugs and snails for hedgehog food.

Talk about hibernation/preferred foods. Some children will like to share their knowledge.
Name the hedgehogs. Miss Prickles ,Spike, Twiglet, whatever.

Have fun! This bit is important.
Praise everybody and everything.

A quick update for those of you kind enough to have made suggestions / reply.

I loved the idea of the clay hedgehogs but found out they do that as part of Reception year, so each child will have already done that.

Someone at school suggested blow paint monsters, so I was all set for that - tried it out with a neighbour's 6 year old, he loved it !

However found out the night before that the school paint was going to be too thick to blow successfully and I wouldn't have time to faff around and dilute it and put into little pots.

So, went for the pipe cleaner snakes - despite it actually being a pre school activity suggestion.

tried it out and the first part took 5 mins, and putting on eyes / cutting mouth took just under 5 mins.

Well !!!

None of the children actually managed to wind two pipe cleaners together tightly enough and I helped each make the heads - by now we had run out of time,
but of course not one of the children wanted to leave without their eyes being stuck on the snake.

In the end it was 20 mins :)

I had started by explaining how we had just had Christmas and New Year, and that it would be the Chinese New Year on Jan 29th,

I had 2 snakes already made and suggested they could be use as book marks or finger puppets and wrapped one around my finger and introduced it as Ssssssid the snake.

Then it was off to the interview.

Was offered ( subject to references and DBS ) and accepted the job.

Thank you all.