The Hairpin Making Activity

The Hairpin Making Activity

An increasing number of parents have started to pay attention to the cultivation of children and teenagers’ financial quotient. In our curricular standard for life skill classes, grasping the value of money and techniques of money management is also one of the most crucial contents. Thus, we designed and conducted this series of making and selling courses.

For an adult, to make a bowknot hairpin might not be difficult. However, for our students, it takes time and small steps.

At the beginning of the class, the teacher showed her finished products. These accessories immediately attracted the attention of our students, especially girls. They were all amazed and wanted to design and create their own hair accessories. In comparison, the boys did not show their interests in this activity as obviously as the girls. Nonetheless, when the teacher told our students that the hairpins would be sold for money to buy ice cream for everyone, all students suddenly became passionate about it. After all, who doesn’t love ice cream?

As a result, a life skill activity course that aimed for buying ice cream was carried out mirthfully at Auesome. After the teacher finished introducing several methods of making hair accessories, the students decided on the styles that they would like to make one after another. We also invited other teachers to join us. Each teacher assisted a student.

The first step, measure.
Each ribbon has to be cut to a suitable length and each hair accessory needs 2-3 ribbons. During the process of measuring, students reviewed their knowledge of measurement, including looking for zero points, finding out target lengths, as well as reading numbers and units of measurement. In addition, students also marked out where the target lengths were, preparing for the following step of cutting.

The second step, cut.
Cut out the corresponding lengths at where the marks were. In this step, students reviewed the correct use of scissors.

The third step, stick.
Locate the middle point of a ribbon, fold it here. Attach double-sided tape to the middle point and stick both ends of the ribbon to it. This step examined students’ ability of fine movements very well. We discovered that, when it came to pinching up and putting down comparatively small items, some students still needed our teachers’ help to do it smoothly.

The fourth step, fold.
Overlap or split fold two or three ribbons in desired ways. This step was also a test of our students’ fine motor skills. After several practices, the students gradually became less dependent on the teachers’ help. Their endeavors and persistence truly made our teachers proud of them.

The fifth step, roll up.
Use thin strings to roll up around a hair accessory to fix it. Students really liked this simple yet forceful step.

The sixth step, neaten up.
This was a quite important move. Neaten up the bowknots and let them show up in a pretty way on the hairpins.

The seventh step, use a hot glue gun to stick.
This step requires a significant tool – hot glue guns. To start with, the teacher made a demonstration after giving safety instructions. Soon after, some students wanted to give it a try and at the sight of the teachers and their classmates, they finished sticking their bowknots with hot glue guns. Everyone applauded to show their encouragement and congratulations. Such small details often make our Auesome life warmer and livelier.

The eighth step, assemble the hairpins.
This is the last stage of the making procedure. Hot glue guns would also be applied here. With the previous demonstration and tryouts, students have gained more confidence in using it.

The nineth step, wrap up.
To make our products more appealing, we fixated them on hardboards, put them into packing bags, printed out price tags with a label printer, and attached the tags on the bags.

The selling process not only created networking opportunities for our children, but also spread the good reputation of Auesome in the neighborhood. When repeat customers came back for hairclip buybacks, out senses of delightfulness and pride were simply beyond expression.

Students enjoy hands-on learning a lot. Our Auesome teachers also advocate multisensory ways of learning. From the perspective of students’ learning interests, learning by doing is much more interesting than learning by listening. All hands-on activities are extremely popular at Auesome. Looking back on our own learning experiences, it was often faster to learn a skill through practice and it would be memorized more firmly. In terms of benefiting students, hands-on learning is an important approach to promoting their development of fine movements, increasing their muscular strength of hands, and enhancing their accuracy of action. Such motor skills are all lifelong benefits. Besides, hands-on learning can also activate the functions of a few brain regions, assisting students with better study and memory.

Thanks for every teacher and student’s devotion and efforts, it felt especially cool and sweet eating ice cream at Auesome this summer.