Clove and Orange Pomander

Ever since grade 3 I have been making orange and clove pomanders for Christmas. My school teacher introduced this activity in class in 1985 and for some reason it really stuck with me. Perhaps it was the hands-on-ness, or the wonderful smell. I have made these in my ESL classes a few times, and each time was a success.

This year, my centre held an end of the year celebration (as there are diverse religious groups at the centre). I chose to lead this activity with the adult students and presented it as a natural air freshener for the kitchen or bathroom. I googled the history (e.g. on Wikipedia here), but decided not to go into too much detail during this celebration activity. I also showed some design ideas as mentioned below. This activity was done close to the end of the day and students were wanting to leave early, but when I showed them the task, they were quite interested. All the levels of students (e.g. from Literacy to LINC Level 5) sat together and worked on their own pomanders while chatting with each other and showing off their creations. The room smelled incredible and we were relaxed and just making stuff! Amazing!

A tip I have learned over the years is to start with pushing in 4 cloves at the top of the orange and another 4 at the bottom of the orange. This creates sturdy 'posts' to wrap the ribbon or yarn through. The ribbon will not slid around and off the orange. With the ribbon secured, I then develop the pattern I want with the remaining cloves. There are many image ideas on the web if you do an image search for orange and clove pomanders.

Outcomes: Listen to and follow instructions, ask for help, help peers, conceptualize and create a pattern