Every May Day, our students deliver baskets to the community with their older buddies. It is such a fun way to engage the neighbors with our school and build rapport with the community. Plus, students also reap the benefits of creating something nice as a random act of kindness to others!
Students make the baskets a day or two before with construction paper. In the past, we would use cone-shaped baskets. I couldn't STAND how the baskets would roll around when students were trying to decorate or fill them! I scoured the internet for easy ways to create a basket with a flat bottom. That brought me to this design.
The construction paper template includes everything you need. Make copies on a variety of colors and then use a large paper cutter to cut apart the straps, basket square, and flower decorations. The second page of the template is for basket tags, if desired.
To assemble the basket part, students make 4 cuts. ONLY 4 CUTS! It's unbelievable, really. I tell students to only cut the parts that look like "railroad tracks."
The rest of the lines are where students should fold. Make each fold in the same direction so that it can be easily formed into a basket to be stapled!
I just have students make a line when they are ready and I give two quick staples on each side. Then, it is time to decorate! Students can choose what color flowers, handle, and basket tag they would like. They can also decorate with markers, crayons, etc.
(Click the picture to download your own copy!)
Voila! May Day baskets complete. :-)
