Using crafts in the special education classroom is SO rewarding but can also have many challenges. Making sure each craft is differentiated, meeting student goals, and prepped for student success (and less frustration) is absolutely vital to be successful. I used to spend many hours searching blogs and Pinterest for the perfect craft for each holiday, and then spend MORE hours adapting that craft, prepping an example, and creating visual directions so we could also work on student goals. I asked some other special education teachers and they were feeling the same exact way, and that is how Simple Crafts came to be.
Each month I have curated the perfect 4 visual crafts, visual example photos, real photos for each step, and symbol material lists in order to make craft time more efficient for teachers and more independent for students.
Below you will find the visual crafts for the month of March (St. Patrick’s Day theme!):
Paper Plate Rainbow: Students can work on both cutting and fine motor skills to create this beautiful paper plate rainbow. (if you don’t want your students to cut the tissue paper you can differentiate even further by precutting the squares and having them work on gluing down the pieces!)
Here are some scissors I suggest all special education classrooms have on hand:
Shaving Cream Shamrock: This craft is a sensory and craft experience all in one! I love using the shaving cream texture and scraper to create a fun design on the shamrock, and they always turn out unique and beautiful!
Kite Sun Catcher: This craft also uses tissue paper! I created the craft sets using similar materials in mind. Why? Because we as teachers are so busy and do not need to go out buying more and more materials each month. You will see the same materials used frequently in these sets to make it easier on teachers and consistent for students.
Pot of Gold Handprint: I love that this craft has a series of steps to it. You could definitely do this craft over a couple of days to make it extend the week and the results are beautiful!
You can find the materials used in my Simple Visual Crafts here.
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Want to purchase this Simple Visual Craft set for your special education classroom?