Making Sculptures from Paper

Providing children with a sturdy base, strips of paper and a glue stick is a simple and fun intro to 3D art and a springboard for imaginative thinking. I purchased a sheet of foam core and used an x-acto knife to cut the board into jigsaw type pieces. The jigsaw shapes are the bases for their sculptures. I showed them different ways to fold and twist the paper, and explained that we were not gluing the pieces so that they were flat against the base. I empasized that for stability each strip of paper should be folded back at the points where it would attach to the base and that plenty of glue stick should be applied. As part of the lesson we discussed how a sculpture can be viewed from different angles. I mentioned that the piece that I was consstructing, as the example, reminded me of an amusement park. They turned their work into everything from fanciful playgrounds to candy factories.

Collaborative Art for Auction Fundraiser

All the children that attend the Montessori school where I teach participated in this collaborative art piece that will be auctioned at their annual fundraiser next month. The children, ranging in age from three to six, are studying Australia this year. We used Aboriginal art and the animals of Australia as our inspiration. The Aborigines have a beautiful way of depicting animals in a simple, almost graphic style. The piece measures 36 x 48 inches.

Each classroom depicted a different animal. I created stamps from craft foam or stencils cut from acetate of the animal shapes. The children first did a rubbing of a pattern using oil pastel to establish a background. They printed or stenciled their animal and added some decoration with paint applied with a Q-tip. The parents will receive the original art on the night of the fundraiser. I made color copies and adhered them to the canvas with Elmer's glue and a sponge brush. I coated the finished work with Mod Podge.

Fall Leaf Prints

We printed leaves yesterday in my after-school art class. The children simply spread tempera paint with a sponge brush on the back of the leaf, flipped it over onto their paper, and printed. We had to be careful not to apply gobs of paint, but other than that, the children had a good time.