It was time to talk turkey this week at the Great Bend Recreation Commission. After-school art classes offered at Lincoln, Jefferson and Eisenhower elementary schools allowed children 5-12 years old to create “button turkey” wall decorations.
At Jefferson on Thursday, the kids had instructor Rachel Kitch’s model to work from as they painted a wooden turkey body and its multi-colored feathers, glued the patterned pieces to a canvas and added colorful buttons and other personal embellishments. Bright orange pipe cleaners were added to create the turkey legs and feet and extend the 3-D elements of the wall hanging.
Ava Carter, a fourth grader at Jefferson, used a marker to add words such as “turkey,” “fall” and “thanks.”
Students don’t have to be enrolled in the school to sign up for the classes. Gunner Fisher, for example, is a third grader at Holy Family Catholic School.
Kitch said the classes are usually offered one afternoon a week when there isn’t a holiday. Since next week includes Thanksgiving, there won’t be a class.
The classes typically meet from 3:30-5 p.m. A fee, usually around $9, is charged for each class.
Projects are often, but not always, based on upcoming holidays. Arelly Webb, a Jefferson first grader, said her favorite project was painting a wall hanging of a dog face.
The next project will be creating a fun painting called “Ho Ho Noo!!!” featuring Santa stuck in the chimney. That class will be offered Monday, Nov. 28 at Eisenhower and Lincoln, and Thursday, Dec. 1 at Jefferson.
After that comes “Santa Elves,” Nov. 29 at Jefferson, Nov. 30 at Eisenhower and Dec. 1 at Lincoln.
There will be three days of crafting during a class called “Deck the Walls,” Dec. 6-8 at all three schools. Cindy Warner will lead the class at Lincoln and Gwen McDonald will be at Eisenhower. Kitch said the children sometimes finish two or three decorations in a day. The cost for all three days is $10.
On Dec. 14, Warner will show children how to paint a holiday flamingo and decorate it with some Christmas items during a class at the Great Bend Recreation Center.
Park Elementary School also offers GBRC after-school adventures in arts and crafts. Instructors Amber Shattuck or Connie Hatten work with children from 3:30-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday on projects such as ceramics, painting, cartooning and holiday items.
All GBRC classes and activities can be found in the Fall Program Guide, available at the Carl Soden Recreation Center, 1214 Stone St., or online at www.greatbendrec.net.