Papermache Masks-- 3rd and 4th grade

This is an art project that I repeat every year, because it is such a great process for the kids... starting with an initial sketched idea, building an armature, applying paper mache, painting and adding embellishments.  I tie this lesson to the Pacific Northwest Coast masks.

You can see masks from previous years here and the process photos here.
 

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Egyptian Clay Sarcophagus-- 4th/5th grade

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 could either carve or paint their hieroglyphs on the box.  We used regular acrylic paints and some fun gold tempera paint to paint these.  (only one firing before painting.)

A couple of side notes:  I am completely fine with them changing their clay sculpture from the preliminary drawing, personalizing it and not using typical Egyptian sarcophagus colors.  It is a good idea to embrace the change as your ideas progress from the first idea to final artwork.

Kindergarten Line Sculpture with Wire

Playing with wire

Learning about Lines

Straight, curved, loopy, wavy, zigzag…

Over, under and through

A first foray into sculpture

Kindergarten Rainbow Fish Sculptures

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 bottles ahead of time for the kids.  Cut squares of tissue paper for the kids to use.

2.  The kids used paper mache glue paste (you could use mod podge or diluted glue as well) to adhere the tissue paper flat to the bottle.

3.  Next class period, kids used construction paper to make fins.  We glued these with O'Glue bottles (or regular Elmer's glue would work fine.)  Then, they cut eyes from white construction paper and used black marker to draw a circle in the white eyeball.  They glued on sequins to decorate the fish.

4.  As the kids were working I had them choose tissue paper, which I stuffed and hot glued into the back of the bottle.  I flattened the end of the waterbottle to kind of make it more narrow and fish-like and stapled the ends together.  Some of the staples were not sticking well, so for those, I just hot glued them.

5.  Poke a hole in the top with a pointy stick/awl, attach a bent paper clip and tie a string for hanging!

Here is the book Rainbow Fish, in case you aren't familiar with it.  We are also making 2-d fish pictures which will be finished after Spring Break

Sculptural Dolls-- 1st Grade

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.

Alaskan Masks-- 2nd Grade

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.

More Snowmen!

I had another craft session of making snowmen after school yesterday.  Here are the ones we made.  You can see a full tutorial here.

Sock Snowmen

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!

Paper mache Rattles- Kindergarten

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.

 

4.  Use brown kraft paper to paper mache on top of the rattle.  Make sure everything is really secure and taped well, so no beans can escape.  (I wish I had taken more pictures of the progress of these.)

5.  Paint the wooden paint stick.

6.  Cut out a construction paper circle to fit on the top of the rattle.  Draw symbols (Native American or your own) on the paper using black marker and construction paper crayons).  Hot glue the paper to the rattle.

7.  Finally, tie on yarn, raffia, beads and feathers for added decoration.

3rd grade Animal Habitats..