***SCHOOL PROJECT**decorating Table Southern Style With 4th Graders Help

[Sherri]

[ :confused: We have this fund raiser that our school does every year. Each class decorates a table: Ex. 3rd Grade-Chinese, 2nd Grade - Italian and this year 4th Grade got Southern Living and so on.

The table will have food on it depending on your theme. Then the tables gets voted on Best Decoration and awarded $200.00 to go to that class.

My problem is decorating the table Southern Style with the help of the 4th graders. The judges likes when they get involved but not actually with the decorating just with the decorations.

They want them to like make things and we put on the tables. This is really big and the parents really get involved. I am talking about Billboards with lights around them, big palm trees and tiki huts for the Hawaiin table.

I just need some ideas for the kids to help decorate using South as a theme.

[palandmagee]

How about doing a southern style picnic theme?

The students could sponge paint the table cloth with red and white squares, make 3-D "ants" to have crawling up the table, paint bright napkins out of paper or leftover fabric, use glass paint and inexpensive glasses to paint glasses with their class name or 4th or whatever...They could even make a big clay picnic basket and ask the art teacher to fire it in the school kiln. You could make some paper mache food to show the four food groups, and even paint big paper outdoor scenery on the big rolls of papers that schools keep in stock.

I taught 4th for many years. If you set up groups and give each group a piece of the project, they will have such pride in it! Also, the teachers or some crafty parents will probaby have most of the materials. Maybe someone can ask for the donation of the glasses or ask each child to bring one in from home to decorate. Pick several to display, and the others go home as a souvenir.

Best of luck! Sounds like FUN! Please post pictures of whatever you decide to do! :D

[Grammy]

In the South during the Fall, we think of football tailgating. Ideas could be similar to the picnic, but could lean more toward the favorite football team in the area. Large cardboard boxes could be cut to resemble the favorite stadium for a background; music on a cd could be playing the fight song, etc. Fourth graders could wear shirts of the colors of the team. Tailgating often means cooking some food over grills or just picnic food. Cardboard boxes could be cut and painted to resemble the back of a SUV. Perhaps a tent could cover the table.

[Addie]

I like Grammy's idea of tailgating! That is perfect! And it could even have some fall stuff thrown in there too like bales of hay to sit on instead of chairs. Be creative with it and have fun!