Arts and Crafts

Lutheran Church in Malaysia

In Malaysia, children play a game similar to hacky sack with something that looks a little bit like a badminton birdie.

Malaysian game

Materials needed:

Feathers (about 4" long)
1/4" thick rubber-backed computer mouse pads to cut up
Nails (1" long)
Scissors or utility knife
Tape

The games in Malaysia are made with three thin discs of rubber piled on top of one another, but mouse pads may be more easily found here.

Cut one 3/8" circle out of mouse pad. Stick nail through the center of the circle, starting from the rubber side. so that the point of the nail pierces through the pad.

Take four feathers and stand the stems of them around the nail. Tape tightly in place, covering the nail.

Now you are ready to play. The object of the game is keep the birdie in the air, hitting it only with your legs, knees, and ankles. You can see who can keep it up the longest, or play catch with it. Have fun!

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Batik cloth very popular in Malaysia. The fabric is made by putting wax on fabric, so that when it is dyed, the dye does not penetrate the wax design. You can have similar results with oil pastels or crayons and watercolor paints.

Batik cloth

Materials needed:

Muslin (cut into 9" by 12" pieces)
Oil pastels or crayons (oil pastels resist the water color paints better)
Water color paints
Newspaper

Give each crafter a piece of muslin. Have them draw simple pictures or designs on their muslin with oil pastels (or crayons). For best results, limit them to white, orange, yellow colors, and make sure they press hard to get bold dark lines.

After the designs have been drawn, lay newspaper on the table. Place the fabric on top of the newspaper, and water color the fabric. For best results, use blue and green watercolors to contrast the wax. The designs should show through the fabric.

Let dry. When finished, crafters can be encouraged to glue their batik onto the cover of a spiral notebook, to frame it, or to hem it and put it on a table.