Students worked with the Aboriginal Enhancement Worker to create and sew their own button blankets using felt and buttons.
For many of the students making their own button blankets was their first experience sewing and it was a great challenge. This button blanket activity revealed students’ self-determination, their ability to persevere and their ability to be patient.
The students were very enthusiastic to begin this button blanket project. They were especially keen to learn how to sew; however they soon realized that it was more difficult than they had anticipated. Their eagerness to be successful combined with the challenge of threading needles and learning to sew proved to be both frustrating and rewarding for all of the students. They needed to be patient with themselves and others and they also had to focus their attention while sewing the fabric pieces as well as the buttons. Sewing was both a soothing and at times frustrating activity.
After they completed their sewing projects, with the support of the classroom teacher, they wrote reflections about the experience, telling what they did, how they felt, and what they would do differently if they did it again. Their relections were posted along with their blanket projects.
This button blanket activity shows the students’ self-determination, their ability to persevere and their ability to be patient.
I can recognize my strengths and use strategies to focus, manage stress, and accomplish my goals.
I can be focused and determined. I can set realistic goals, use strategies to accomplish them, and persevere with challenging tasks. I can tell when I am becoming angry, upset, or frustrated, and I have strategies to calm myself. I can make choices that benefit my well-being and keep me safe in my community, including my online interactions. I advocate for myself and my ideas; I accept myself.