No Time For Flash Cards

preschool activities, preschool crafts, and preschool books.

  • Blog
  • About
    • Terms Of Use
    • Disclaimer
    • Holiday Gift Guide For Kids
    • Advertise
    • In The Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Bloglovin
  • Preschool Activities
  • crafts for kids
    Preschool Crafts
  • Preschool Books
  • sensory alphabet activity
    Letters & Numbers
  • For Teachers
  • Toddlers
  • Preschool
  • Kindergarten
  • Elementary

January 5, 2012 | 7 Comments

Hamsa – Crafts From Around The World

by Katy

In this project we were studying Africa and created a Hamsa as part of that study. A Hamsa is an ancient good luck sign that has been adopted by almost every culture and religion in North Africa and Central Asia. They are often created at stained glass pieces and hung in windows to help protect the home. I decided to make ours in a similar fashion.

To make the Hamsa, you will need:

An assortment of light colored crayons (red, yellow, orange, etc.)
wax paper
black and white construction paper or sticky foam
A hair dryer (may substitute another heat source like an iron if necessary)
pencil sharpener
dark permanent marker

The first thing you do is turn your crayons into shreds. A really easy way to do this is with one of those little hand-held pencil sharpeners, but before I figured that out, I was just snipping at it with a pair of scissors and that works too.

You want to get a lot of shavings, and it’s best to stick with light colors. The darker colors just read like black or brown when they mix together. Once you have a nice little pile of shavings, place them between two sheets of wax paper.

Now, most of the crafting books I’ve read suggest using an iron to melt the wax. I tried this, and it was a complete disaster. Wax ran everywhere, residue got on the iron, and I was a little afraid I was going to catch something on fire. I found that pointing my hair dryer at the wax paper worked just as well, felt safer, and created a lot less mess.

Once your wax is melted and cooled, take your child’s hand and place it on top. Hamsa’s are traditionally thought of as right hands, so go ahead and use their right one. Then, cut out the hand.

Create and eye with your construction paper and attach it.

And that’s it! You can hang it in a window to catch the light if you’d like.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Katy is a mom of three who loves art, mystery novels, and anything involving peanut butter”“she blogs about raising her little miracles at Bird on the Street.

Filed Under: African Crafts, Age Preschool, Age: Toddlers, Crafts From Around The World, Handprint art, Melted Crayon Crafts, Preschool Crafts | 7 Comments

Like this post? Share it with a friend!

Become an Email Subscriber

Sign up above and receive all new No Time for Flashcards posts directly in your email inbox.

You may also like these posts

nursery rhymes for preschoolseptember preschool activities for 3 year olds, 4 year olds an 5 year olds
Next Post: 9 Winter Crafts & Activities
Previous Post: Lego City Book Review & Giveaway from Scholastic

7 Comments

  1. Katie says

    January 5, 2012 at 11:37 am

    Hello. I love your blog and have used your ideas in my classroom a lot! This is a great project for Africa! In my class, we make crayon wax art all the time using an iron. Like you, I also wanted to make the project less messy and safer, so I use foil on top and underneath the wax paper. This protects your iron, allows the wax to not get super hot.

    to Katie" aria-label='reply to this comment to Katie'>reply to this comment
  2. Natalie says

    January 5, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    Very cute project! We also did it when we studied Morocco last year. It’s pretty!

    to Natalie" aria-label='reply to this comment to Natalie'>reply to this comment
  3. Josie says

    January 6, 2012 at 5:13 pm

    Just came across this blog while looking for something different in the way of Valentine’s Day ideas. My daughter (7) and I just did a trial run of the Paper Hug from ’09 and she loved it! Now she wants to try everything here. Thank you so much for the wonderful work!

    to Josie" aria-label='reply to this comment to Josie'>reply to this comment
    • admin says

      January 6, 2012 at 10:31 pm

      Thank you !

      to admin" aria-label='reply to this comment to admin'>reply to this comment
  4. Marie-Claude Leroux says

    November 16, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    What a great craft! Using melted wax to emulate stained glass is so creative. I know this is an older post, but if you’re interested, there’s a blog hop and link up that features multicultural crafts, activities and musings with kids, we hope others use as a resource – this post, and any others of your crafts from Around the World would be great linked up 🙂 http://mariespastiche.blogspot.ca/2014/11/creative-kids-culture-blog-hop-21.html

    to Marie-Claude Leroux" aria-label='reply to this comment to Marie-Claude Leroux'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. CraftCrave | Blog | Textual List: Friday, 06 Jan 2012 says:
    January 5, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    […] Hamsa – Crafts From Around The World – 1 freebie(s)? […]

    to CraftCrave | Blog | Textual List: Friday, 06 Jan 2012" aria-label='reply to this comment to CraftCrave | Blog | Textual List: Friday, 06 Jan 2012'>reply to this comment
  2. CraftCrave | Blog | Free Handcraft Items or Tutorials (large): Friday, 06 Jan 2012 says:
    January 5, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    […] Hamsa – Crafts From Around The World – 1 freebie(s)? […]

    to CraftCrave | Blog | Free Handcraft Items or Tutorials (large): Friday, 06 Jan 2012" aria-label='reply to this comment to CraftCrave | Blog | Free Handcraft Items or Tutorials (large): Friday, 06 Jan 2012'>reply to this comment

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search For Activities

Now In Paperback!

Buy NOW

All Activities

Become an Email Subscriber

Sign up above and receive all new No Time for Flash Cards posts directly in your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Bloglovin

Copyright © 2008-2023 • No Time For Flash Cards - ACM Media LLC • Site Design by Emily White Designs