The aim of the activity is for the pupils to increase their vocabulary and start expressing themselves in simple and/or longer sentences. The focus here is on the oral language. The activity can be varied according to the students’ language level. 

In this activity, pupils will learn terms and/or sentences through working with arts and crafts. Teachers may decide the theme in advance, or let the pupils participate in the choice of theme.  

An alternative is for the pupils to paint a picture as their work of art. The other option is for the pupils, through their creativity and desire, to choose what kind of materials they want to use, and then present this.  

The tasks can be varied according to the pupils’ language level.  The purpose is to learn new words, terms and phrases by doing arts. Also, they learn to speak and present to the public in the minority language. In addition, they must focus on pronunciation. 

The choice of material mayvary based on the pupils’ wishes and what the school has access to. We suggest to search in nature which is rich in different materials. This is an especially nice activity in the autumn, but it can of course be done all year round.

This activity can be done in one lesson or divided into two lessons, where in the first lesson, the teacher can describe what they are going to do and then collect material out in nature. In the next lesson, they can start with the artworks and possibly start with presentations of the artworks. 

We propose to carry this activity out during two teaching lessons, the first of which one collects and prepares (dries) the materials, in the second one works with the materials, and with words, terms and sentences for the presentation. 

Step 1: Preparation 

 In the first lesson, the teacher presents the activity to the pupils. If the teacher chooses to only use paint, colored pens, etc., no major preparation is required. If the pupils are going out to collect material in the forest/nature, more time is needed. If the materials need to dry, this should be done in the first teaching lesson. 

Step 2: Creating the artwork 

In the second lesson, the pupils will each create their own artwork from the materials they have collected. Here, the pupils get to use their creativity and imagination. They may, for example, glue materials such as leaves, twigs, stones, grass, moss etc. onto a plate or paper, or simply glue the materials together. This is a nice activity to do in the autumn when there are many beautiful colours in nature. 

Step 3: Preparing the presentation 

After creating their artwork, the pupils should start preparing their presentation of the artwork. The content of the presentations may be the artwork they have made, the choice of materials, what the artwork is supposed to represent, the idea behind the artwork, etc. When each pupil has given their presentation, the teacher and/or classmates can ask questions.