Playdough Art Based Station

To give the students more opportunity to make sculptures, we have a Playdough Station. In this Art Based Station, students can make any sculpture they want. Below are some examples of students who practiced making masks with the dough.

Fourth and Fifth Grade Wire Self-Portraits

Fourth and Fifth Graders created colorful wire self-portraits inspired by their study of artist Alexander Calder. Their work was on display for Open House which also happened to be Big Art Day.

Kinder-Third Crazy Line Sculptures

During a study of artist Alexander Calder, Kinder through Third Grade students created crazy line sculptures out of air-dry clay and pipe cleaners. The students displayed these on their homeroom desks for Open House which also happened to be Big Art Day.

Lizard Alebrije: Art Critique

As a part of Hispanic Heritage Month, the 4th and 5th graders wrote art critiques over Pepe Santiago's wood carved sculpture, Lizard Alebrije. Art critiques are a part of our curriculum to encourage the students to think and write critically about art using appropriate vocabulary.

Dale Chihuly Chandeliers

For a collaborative project my Kindergarten, First, and Second Graders created three Dale Chihuly inspired chandeliers made out of plastic. Each student was given a 3M brand lamination pouch. They opened the pouch and used two colors of permanent markers to color all over them. After they were done, I laminated them in our classroom laminator. (Fellow teachers, if you do not have one of these, get one. They are inexpensive and very useful for smaller projects. I personally think the lamination is thicker and better quality than typical laminators.)  Once they were laminated, the students learned how to cut the film into spiral shapes by starting with a large circle. They then worked together to connect five or six spirals in the middle with pipe cleaners. As they completed this, they brought them to me and we worked together to hook the pipe cleaners all together. Once completed, we originally hung them up in the windows by the art room but they were too heavy and fell. So, we ended up combining them into one large chandelier and hung them on a rolling garment rack that I previously used for a pocket chart stand.

Dale Chihuly: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades

As a part of our school wide artist study over Dale Chihuly, the third through fifth graders explored how heat can change an object. I try to incorporate as many general education connections into art as possible. To recreate a kid friendly, safe version of Chihuly's glass art, the students used permanent markers to design a clear plastic cup. After the students were done designing, we went to the Kindergarten kitchen to experiment. The cups were placed on parchment paper on top of cookie sheets and placed in the oven at 350 degrees. The students took turns watching the changes in the cups. Once they were cooled, the students were able to take their "glass" sculptures home.

Dale Chihuly: Kinder, First, and Second Grades

I did an artist study on Dale Chihuly with all of my students a few months ago. We looked at his various artworks, learned about the process to create glass, and then they made their own kid friendly version. Each student used washable markers to decorate a coffee filter in at least three colors. As they finished this step, they went to a station by the sink to spray their coffee filters with water. They were amazed at how the colors ran together. They then placed their coffee filters on top of a cup with a rubber band around it to hold it in place. After they dried, I sprayed them with spray starch to make the shapes hold. The students then glued them to a black cardstock base.