Snow Island: The Christmas craft workshop

One morning, all the children on Snow Island between the ages of six and 12 gathered in the school gymnasium for a Christmas decoration workshop led by two dynamic art students, Maeva and William.

“Your challenge is to make a Christmas tree ornament that symbolizes your personality and interests,” Maeva explained.

“In other words, people should think of you as soon as they see your ornament,” William added. “You can use any of the materials we brought.”

“You have three hours to create your masterpiece,” Maeva said. “Off you go!”

Orion and Capella were very excited. Frantically rummaging through the art supply bins, the eight-year-old twins gathered materials: pom-poms, feathers, sequins, ribbons, pipe cleaners, and more. With their hands full, they headed back to their table to begin.

“What are you going to make for your ornament?” Capella asked.

“Since I love outer space, I’m going to make mine into a rocket ship,” Orion replied. “And since everyone knows I love lemon yellow, the whole thing will be yellow! What about yours?”

“I’m obsessed with chocolate and math, right? So I’m going to make a chocolate bar with mathematical symbols carved into each square,” Capella explained.

The twins enthusiastically set about making their decorations. However, over by the craft bins, two of their friends weren’t having as much fun.

“Gosh, I have no ideas,” Sylvio lamented.

“I don’t know what to make either,” Jasmine admitted.

Suddenly, Orion and Capella had an idea about how to spark their friends’ creativity. The siblings took turns asking them a variety of questions without giving them time to answer.

“What’s your go-to song?”

“Do you have a pet?”

“What sports do you play?”

“Do you like to read?”

“What food do you like best?”

Gradually, the children’s faces lit up. With the help of the twins, they’d finally found their inspiration. Thanking them, Sylvio and Jasmine headed off to create ornaments in their image. The boy made a pineapple-shaped hot air balloon, and the girl decided on a guitar-playing penguin.

That evening, families across Snow Island hung all sorts of unusual ornaments on their trees: a rainbow snowboard, a tractor with wings, a cat curled up in a bird’s nest, a puzzle piece with an elephant trunk on it, a sailboat with Viking symbols, a dinosaur wearing overalls — what a sight!

Inspired by their creativity, many of the children’s parents, including Orion and Capella’s, decided to make their own personalized decorations. After all, who said crafts are only for kids?

THE END

By Johannie Dufour and Sarah Beauregard
Translated by Katya Teague