January 31st is Backward Day ~ a day to do everything backwards! You can try reading backwards, eating your meal starting with a dessert, walking backwards, talking backward, or playing a game backwards: from the finish line to the start. Your imagination is the limit! To commemorate the day, Adrian, while wearing his sweater and a hat backwards, is spelling his name using painted Haida sticks assembled as letters of his name A-D-R-I-A-N. The trick is, however, to spell his name backwards!
This activity is very easy and fun. A child gets to use his/her imagination while decorating popsicle sticks (or any other craft sticks). American Indian Crafts Kids Can Do! book (buy here) has a lot of fun craft ideas, and today, we are using colorful markers (buy here) to decorate Haida sticks, which were used by Native Americans like we use playing cards.
Haida people lived along the northwest coast of Alaska, and they were known for their wood carvings. Craftspeople carved cedar trees, and then painted their carvings with minerals mixed into mashed salmon eggs. (Adrian was fascinated to learn that at some point, people did not have paints, crayons, markers or pencils readily available to them.)
All you need is popsicle sticks and markers. You can also use colored pens or paints, or even make your own paint from food juice (like beats) or food coloring, just like Haida people did!
Once Adrian satisfied his creativity and finished decorating Haida sticks with markers, he assembled them to represent the letters of his names. It was a great language and alphabet letter recognition exercise as well, as Adrian had to figure out how to make sticks to look like A-D-R-I-A-N.
Children used glue, tape, and clothespins to hold the sticks together.
And, to commemorate the Backward Day, Adrian is spelling his name backwards!
This simple DIY craft activity triggers creativity while crafting, enhances language skills and letter recognition, as well as memorization of reverse sequential order. And most importantly ~ it is fun!
"NAIRDA" is ADRIAN spelled backwards!
Adrian also practiced spelling using Montessori Movable Alphabet: the words "Adrian, Julia, Love, Mama, Papa" but backwords!
Adrian even wore his shirt, sweater, and a tie backwards.
Backward Day is a lot of fun for children (definitely for mine!). Have you done anything backwards on January 31st?