Alternate Activity 1: Polish Gwiazdy Craft
Part of Faithful Journeys
Activity time: 12 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Origami paper, or other paper cut into squares at least 8 by 8 inches
- Pencils and scissors (including left-handed scissors)
- Broom and dustpan, or a vacuum cleaner, for clean-up
Preparation for Activity
- Set supplies so each child has access to a pencil, scissors and choices of paper.
- Optional: Obtain an illustrated version of the instructions online.
Description of Activity
Poland is another country where Unitarian churches have U.S. partner congregations. This paper craft is called gwiazdy, which means "stars." These Polish stars resemble paper snowflakes, but with eight sides instead of five.
1. Fold a square of paper in half to make a rectangle, then in half again to make a square. Now fold in half one last time, corner to corner to make a triangle.
2. Draw a curved line from the middle point of the triangle over to the longest flat side, and cut off the top of the triangle, so that when the paper is eventually opened it will form a circle.
3. Leaving the triangle folded, draw a pattern that is the same on both sides. This pattern will indicate where to cut, so none of the lines should go all the way across the triangle, which would chop the star into pieces.
4. Cut along the lines of the pattern, then unfold to reveal the cut paper star.