Design techniques to create the perfect Christmas Card

The most special time of year for Casvi International American School begins. Christmas at an international school based on the American curriculum like ours is a very special occasion for all students to work on their values and principles.

An event that they look forward to with special enthusiasm is the preparation of Christmas. Small cards that will not only decorate our facilities, but also the homes of each family that makes up our educational community.

Due to the health crisis by Covid-19, this year Christmas is different in our facilities, as we are based on compliance with all safety measures indicated by Health. In previous years it was very common to rehearse carols for the annual Christmas festival. This 2020, according to our commitment and, respecting all the safety measures, we wanted to keep that illusion alive in each of our students. For that reason, each class has already worked on their Christmas cards, which are undoubtedly our way of starting these important dates.

At Casvi International American School we have already kicked off Christmas with our special and atypical Thanksgiving celebration, where our students cooked for the entire educational community and made their own decorative turkeys for the occasion. Our halls and facilities were dyed orange and brown, and the long-awaited arrival of Christmas, one of the major holidays of the year in the United States, was already being felt.

Due to the internationality of Casvi International American School, there are many different customs to celebrate Christmas. Hand in hand with our native English-speaking teachers, our students are immersed in American culture and traditions. At this time of year, the entire educational community is involved and collaborates in every activity.

One of our great traditions is the Christmas Contest, an activity that our students enjoy greatly and that without a doubt helps them not only to promote their creativity, but also their imagination while learning new design techniques.

But where does the tradition of Christmas cards come from?

What is popularly known as a Christmas card is a greeting card that is decorated in a special way that celebrates the arrival of Christmas. The first commercial Christmas card with the phrase “Merry Christmas” was produced by Henry Cole in England in 1843. The typical content of these cards ranges from truly Christian symbols such as scenes of the Birth of Jesus and the star of Bethlehem to purely seasonal references, or even to common Christmas activities such as shopping or famous celebrations.

These cards are sent during the Christmas period by many people in Western culture and in Asia, and over time they have become essential elements in the Christmas of any culture or country.

This Christmas element not only serves as a greeting at this time of year. Over time, different cultures and societies have used it as a decorative element in their homes.

At Casvi International American School, following the American traditions, we have wanted our students to get involved and prepare during their classes Christmas decorations and motifs for their own decoration or to share with the educational community. Therefore, following our tradition this year we wanted to continue with our traditional Christmas Contest: Iria, Andrea, Carlota, Inés, Elsa, Adrián, Luis, Mateo, Ana, Olivia and Daniela are the winners of 2020. Here we leave you with their creations:

Every day, our students discover, investigate and learn new subjects. This makes them more autonomous in their learning and perfectionist in their results. At Casvi International American School we work with an IB methodology based on the American curriculum. This makes our students internationally minded people who make lasting contributions to the world. In addition, by having an American curriculum with native teachers, our students experience complete language immersion, which undoubtedly puts them at an advantage in their professional future.

Carrying out activities with the creation of Christmas has multiple advantages over the students, since it not only improves their design techniques, but also encourages their creativity and imagination. Moreover, for the students it can mean:

• A means of overcoming negative emotional situations:While painting in the subconscious problems disappear because we are in a state of total relaxation and concentration. The responses to negative emotional states disappear and are gradually transformed. For the child, painting or creating can be a means of self-therapy.
• A technique of relaxation:The creative activity of Christmas in tense, introverted students with a tendency to isolation is very useful.
• A means of production:From scribbles, swirls, spheres to more elaborate Christmas productions, the student evolves in his or her productive creativity and psychomotor skills.
• A means of communication:The student uses the resources of Plastic Expression to develop communication processes, the richer the medium and the resources that stimulate and guide him.
• A means of expression:Through drawing, color, the student expresses himself. He expresses his inner world, thoughts, ideas, moods and relationships with the world in an increasingly complex way, from the first scribbles to the most abstract and elaborate artistic creations, developing his psychomotor skills with it.