For very young children and chldren with special needs Arpilleras are textile collage from South America, made with simple materials normally found at home. Bits and pieces of cotton, wool and other materials are sewn on a piece of burlap also called Hessian. Arpilleras have a narrative, people’s stories, stories from their village, and their families. Although arpilleras tell stories of day to day life, there have
How to set up the classroom for a printmaking activity Many teachers find printmaking messy and difficult to manage in the classroom. From simple printing techniques as card printing to more complex techniques like linocut printing, the setting can be the same. The first task that the teacher will be confronted with is establishing an appropriate work area. The printmaking process is best supported by arranging the
Having fun and learning about tone What a fun thing to do, learning how to mix different tones of grey inspired by the pots, pans and other utensils from the kitchen. Young children love different approaches to art, different challenges and the different ways we teachers present ideas to them. This art experience presented the young students with the unexpected, pots and pans from the kitchen in the classroom and the
Many times I have heard other teachers saying, “somebody gave me a pile of this or that, what I am going to do with all this? “I was in a similar situation when a parent came to the classroom with a big number of flat pizza boxes, my first thought was also, what can I do with it? I have never rejected a donation, no matter how big or how small. I keep everything but I do try to use our bits and bobs as so
A fun lesson to learn and to have fun creating and experimenting with paper and lots of imagination. This lesson on paper construction is ideal for students to create, to experiment and to use their imagination working with paper. Students are encouraged to make flat shapes and lines, and to transform them into 3D shapes, by folding, gluing and fastening with staples or tape. It also offers the opportunity to create
Primary/Elementary/Early Childhood A fun activity to do at the end of the year or any time. Going for a treasure hunt in the garden is something young children love. My two and half years old granddaughter loves to come with me when I invite her to go for a treasure hunt, so this activity can be adjusted to different age groups. I found that wrapping around sticks with yarns is a meditative activity that results on t
Clay figurines inspired by a visit to the Metropolitan Museum NYC The inspiration for this project comes from the ancient Chinese figurines at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. At the Museum, I found so many things to be inspired by: people dancing, animals in a pen, animals/birds figurines and many more beautiful terracotta small characters. This is an easy and fun way to do clay modelling. Ideally the clay pieces sho
Multilayered Repetition Foam Print Time to think of greeting cards, gift paper and other goodies that can be made using these very easy and economical printmaking techniques. Printmaking is a great technique that can be done at home or at school. A printing block can be printed on different surfaces like paper, calico bags, paper bags, big sheets of paper to create beautiful gift wrapping paper and many other applica
Teaching Art on a Shoe String Here are some ideas that I’d like to contribute: how to source art materials in order to provide art experiences in the classroom with a small budget. Whether you teach, TAB or Direct Instruction, there are always teachers out there who struggle to get the necessary funds for their Art programs. I love to use recycled materials in my classroom. To find recycled materials takes som
