These are the fun sarcophagi the 4th/5th graders made from clay. We spent a few days learning about Egyptian art and drawing them on paper. See my previous post about the drawings. Due to my finger problem, I’m not going to type out full directions for the clay sarcophagus.. but we traced the template onto slabs of clay for the top and bottom, built the bottom up with coils and then carved designs in the top of the box. Kids … Read more…
Playing with wire Learning about Lines Straight, curved, loopy, wavy, zigzag… Over, under and through A first foray into sculpture
First, DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR THE PICK AND DRAW GAME!! I will be picking a winner on April 1. Rainbow Fish is an awesome kids book to go with fish art projects. The kindergartners made rainbow fish sculptures from water bottles. I learned about this idea at the NAEA conference. The lady who presented it did it with large 2 liter bottles, but I used little water bottles instead. Steps:1. Cut off the bottoms of the water … Read more…
The first graders made these lovely sculptural dolls! You can see the tutorial here. Some of the pieces were attached with hot glue. I have an older student who is my helper during that class.
The 2nd graders have been learning about the characteristics and functions of Alaskan masks as well as the cultural traditions of Native Alaskans. They made a 3-D mask using typical characteristics— animal or human features, fur, feathers, appendages, hoops around the mask.
I had another craft session of making snowmen after school yesterday. Here are the ones we made. You can see a full tutorial here.
I had my first after school holiday crafts class yesterday. I had 14 kids with me making snowmen. You can see the tutorial here. Here are our finished snowmen!
The kindergartners made paper mache rattles after learning about Native American rattles. We viewed a Powerpoint about the rattles used in Native American ceremonies. The students made their own rattle which could be used for music and dancing. We were not trying to copy the rattles, but use them for inspiration. Here are the steps:1. First, tape a paint stick to the inside of a paper plate. 2. Put beans on the plate. 3. Tape another plate on top. … Read more…
Here is an easy, no-sew snowman that my after school art class is going to make. I’m so excited to try it with the kids and of course I will post pictures to show you their results. 1. Gather supplies: rubberband, fabric scissors, white tube sock, colorful infant sock, stuffing, rice, buttons, felt and ribbon. 2. Cut off the top of the tube sock. Experiment to see what works best for you. 3. Drop a large handful of dry … Read more…
Mobiles, by 7th and 8th gradersI wanted to share with you some of the mobiles that the middle school kids are doing at my school. I share a room with another art teacher, and I see all the projects they create. This is a really awesome project! The kids are having a blast and they are learning all about balance, movement, three-dimensional art, and more. They each started with large wires and these sticks (which I didn’t know what they … Read more…
We learned about Sumerian art. The students drew Sumerian statuettes and we also made some figures out of clay! These statuettes are characterized by large, staring eyes, clasped hands, cylindrical bodies, expressionless faces and bodies devoid of gender differentiation. They have religious and cultural meaning and we will investigate this in class.
. We made 3 mobiles out of the string balls. You can see my posts about the string balls here. To make the base of the mobile, we took thick cardboard rings and wrapped fabric around them. We secured the fabric with hot glue.
I was playing around with how to make a fun art doll for 1st grade. You will need to get either parent volunteers or older helpers to hot glue. I am lucky to have a K-8 school where there is often study halls in which I can borrow older kids for help. Here is what I came up with. 1. Cut a piece of muslin fabric into a square. Place it in the palm of your hand. Put a ball … Read more…
On Friday, the 7th/8th graders taught the younger kids for part of the day. One of the projects they made were these lovely tissue paper flowers in a construction paper cone vase. I loved them!
