Primary Schools Enrichment Pack
Key Stages 1 and 2 These activities have been collected from the teams at Islington Council who work on Careers, Arts and Creative, and Music activities with schools. We’ve selected some fun learning worksheets that you can do with your children around the topic of the Notting Hill Carnival. You won’t need a computer to complete these.
What’s in the pack?
We picked some ideas that let you explore the theme of the Notting Hill Carnival from your own home.
Creative activities: 1) Mas band costume tutorial (Craft Council)
2) Carnival mask colouring sheets (UK Centre for Carnival Arts)
World of Work activities: 1) Read about jobs that make the Notting Hill Carnival happen.
2) Host your own mini-carnival!
Mas Costume Accessories
By Giselle Carter Images of: Courtesy Giselle Carter, www.gemzmasband.co.uk from Gemz Mas
Notting Hill Carnival is one of the world’s biggest street festivals. Led by members of the Caribbean community, the soundsystems, atmosphere and beautifully crafted costumes make it a highlight of the year for Londoners.
Costumes are made at Mas Camps, where every year designers, craftspeople and volunteers make stunning, creative costumes built around welded wire frames and based around their chosen theme.
Gemz Mas specialise in costumes for children, and have picked “Gulliver’s Travels” as their theme for 2018. In this tutorial Giselle will teach you how to make accessories for Mas Costumes, including a Mas means “Carnival Celebrations” neck piece, belt and wrist and leg accessories. and is short for “Masquerade”!
Images of: Courtesy Giselle Carter, www.gemzmasband.co.uk
materials
foam (can be purchased from any carnival supplier* or craft shop) • • hot glue gun & glue sticks • • diamantes, rhinestones & gems • paper or cardboard • pencil • scissors • straight pins • sequin roll • • ostrich feathers • • stretch fabric (preferably Lycra) • This feathered back piece is built around • overlocker or sewing machine • a welded wire frame- it needs to be strong to last a whole day of dancing!
*Carnival suppliers include: Exquisite costume creations, Leyton Industrial Village Step One: Create a template. On a piece of plain paper or cardboard, draw templates for your accessories: one shape each for the wrists, neck, waist and legs (you can be creative with your shapes!). The shapes should be big enough so that they are visible and fit comfortably.
Step Two:
Cut out your shapes. Place your template on the foam and cut out the shape on the foam. Place your template on the fabric and cut out the shape on the fabric.
Template Tips: Having trouble thinking up templates for your accessories? You can photocopy the templates on the last page of this guide
...Or have a look at our Carnival and Festival Fun themed Pinterest board for inspiration!
Step Three:
Make your straps. Cut inch-wide strips of stretch fabric at least 15cm long each for the straps. For the waistband, wrist and neck piece, cut 2 straps each. For the leg piece, cut 4 straps each. Sew your layers together. Pin your fabric shape and straps to your foam shape. Your straps should be sandwiched between the foam and the fabric. Stitch the fabric and straps onto the foam with an over locker (blades down) or standard sewing machine.
Top Tips: Don’t worry if you can’t sew, you can glue the fabric to the foam using any fabric adhesive spray, and hand stitch the straps to the sides.
...Or you can attach them by piercing an eyelet into each side of the accessory. Insert the strap into the eyelet and tie a knot at the end of the fabric to secure it. Step Four:
Using hot glue, apply a thin line of glue around the circumference of the accessory and attach rhinestones / diamantes / gems to decorate.
Step Five:
For the wristband and leg band, apply a line of hot glue down the middle and attach one baby ostrich feather. Decorate on and around the feather with sequins and gems.
Wear your accessories with your costume to add some bling to your look!
Things to think about:
Before you make your Mas accessories, why not think about and learn:
• What is the history of Carnival, why is it important in Caribbean culture?
• What other carnivals happen around the world?
• What techniques and materials are used for costumes?
• What kind of stories do carnivals tell? Historically, some carnivals have been acts of celebration, many have religious origins, and some have been acts of defiance!
• If your Craft Club attended a carnival, what would your theme be? What stories would you tell?
Craft Club is a national campaign that champions craft in schools, galleries, libraries and anywhere else you can bring people together to share craft skills.
www.craftclub.org.uk • www.gemzmasband.co.uk Follow us on twitter @CraftClubUK or Facebook @CraftClubUK Templates
These are not to scale. You can use them as inspiration for shapes, or englarge them on a photocopier to use as templates.
Neck piece: • Photocopy at 141% or A4 > A3 • Shorten or lengthen according to size
Arm or leg bands: • Photocopy at 141% or A4 > A3 Belt: • Shorten or lengthen • Photocopy at 141% according to size or A4 > A3 • Shorten or lengthen according to size Carnival mask colouring in sheets
On the following 2 pages are templates for carnival masks for you to decorate!
Ideas for decorating your masks
Colour the mask in - you can make patterns on them with crayon, felt tip or paint
Get out your glue and use feathers and glitter to get really creative if you have them
No glitter in the house? How about cutting up colours and patterns from an old magazine or newspaper and sticking them on to make an amazing design.
If you have fabric material at home you could make patterns on your masks using shapes of fabric
No fabric? How about trying to decorate your mask using recycled materials like old bubble wrap, foil, cardboard or old birthday cards. Even pasta!
This activity is from the UK Centre for Carnival Arts: https://www.carnivalarts.org.uk/post/carnival- mask-colouring-sheets Colour Me Colour Me Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival – The Jobs That Make it Happen
Notting Hill Carnival is a huge street festival that takes place in London every year.
It's all about celebrating Caribbean heritage, arts and culture - including music, food and dancing.
When and why did it start?
The first festival was in 1966 and it was put on by someone called Rhaune Laslett, a local resident and social worker. Rhaune, who lived in Notting Hill with her mum and dad, wanted to highlight and celebrate the diversity in her area by putting on a festival.
It's got bigger and bigger since then. Organisers today say it's the second biggest carnival in the world, and the biggest one in Europe! It's thought that around 50 people went to the first festival – nowadays organisers expect up to 2 million!
What happens?
It's loud, colourful and vibrant! There's plenty of dancing, singing and processions that take place through the streets. People spend months working on their festival costumes, and show them off in the huge parade.
There's all kind of music, including steel bands, reggae and salsa artists. There are approximately 40 static sound systems, ten steel pan bands and 70 performing stages. And there's a lot of traditional food to choose from. There are over 300 food stalls selling things like curried goat, roti and jerk chicken. Yum!
Lots of people come together to make this huge event happen. Let’s take a closer look at some of the jobs they do…
Notting Hill Carnival
Performers
You can expect to see up to 50,000 performers every year at the carnival. These include:
Steel bands – a steel pan is a musical instrument originating from Trinidad and Tobago. Steel bands bring the unique sound and energy of the Caribbean to the streets of London.
Mas bands - Mas Bands create and provide the colourful costumes for the carnival. Every year each band has a new theme and the general public are welcome to buy a costume and join a band to ‘play mas’ on the parade route at Carnival. A group of judges decide on the best mas band and the winners are announced on social media.
Sound systems - Rooted in Jamaican culture and ‘Reggae’ music, sound systems were officially introduced to the carnival in 1973. Today there are over 30 sound systems catering for different musical tastes. Everything from ‘Dub’, ‘Rare Groove’ and ‘House’ to ‘Jungle’, ‘Samba’ ‘Blues’ and ‘Hip Hop’. Each sound system is manned by a team of people, who together create a unique party vibe wherever they set up and play recorded music of their choice.
Food traders
The carnival offers food from around the world and there are over 300 stalls to choose from. These include traditional Caribbean foods such as ‘Jamaican Jerk Chicken’, Trinidadian ‘Roti’, and Guyanese ‘Pepper Pot’. If you don’t eat meat there are also veggie options at most stalls and an increase in vegan food traders in recent years.
Notting Hill Carnival
Street cleaners
A team of street cleaners, refuse staff and waste managers along with a huge fleet of some 30 vehicles will lead the clean-up. This is arranged by the local council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Security and welfare staff
Each year over 1000 stewards are hired to help keep people safe at the carnival. More than 12,000 Police Officers are also called to be on duty in and around the carnival. St John’s Ambulance will also have staff in attendance to look after anyone who becomes unwell.
Organisers
The Carnival Village Trust (CVT), are a registered charity located in the heart of Notting Hill. It is their responsibility to organise the festival. People who work for the charity have to work together to make important decisions about how the carnival will be delivered each year.
The information and images in this pack were gathered from below sources:
Official Notting Hill Carnival website: https://nhcarnival.org/
BBC Newsround ‘What is Notting Hill Carnival?’ article
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea website: rbkc.gov.uk
Notting Hill Carnival
Activity: Host your own carnival
Have a go at hosting your very own mini-carnival at home!
Pick one or more ideas from those listed below to try:
Food trader – Ask an adult to help you cook a traditional Caribbean dish, or cook something that is traditional from your own culture and serve it to your family.
Make a costume – Use items in your home to make a colourful costume. You can use the accessories that you designed earlier as the base!
Host your own sound system – You could pick some of your favourite songs, or some traditional carnival music and play it for your family. Maybe even start your own dance parade! If you have access to Spotify they have ready-made carnival playlists. Or, if you play an instrument or sing, why not put on a performance at home!
Design a poster – Advertise your mini-carnival by designing a colourful poster.
Don’t forget to clean up after, just like the street cleaners who make sure everything is clean and tidy for people who live in the Notting Hill area.