Paper Mache Puppets, Part 1

We worked long and hard on our puppets in art club today. First, the kids did sketches of their ideas. Then we balled up some newspaper and used masking tape to attach it to sticks from the playground:

 Then we made ears and other features (also with newspaper and tape):

This kindergartener initially sketched a short-beaked bird, but decided to go with a more exaggerated beak once he started putting it all together:

Here are some kiddos working on building their puppets' heads:

After we made armatures out of newspaper and tape, we got out the paper mache. Here is a dog puppet with a couple layers of paper mache:

 And a stoic deer:

 And a happy panda bear:

 And a precious unicorn:

And a mythical dragon:

And a long-beaked bird:

Next week we'll paint them. I kind of can't wait.

P.S. Check out Ellen's super cool t-shirt!

Mosaic Madness

 Check out some of our torn paper creations! Here is a girl walking at night among the stars:

A cardinal on a tree branch on a sunny day:

Several students made mosaics with their name or initials:

A note

(note from a first grader)

The end of a Quarter

This is the last week of after school art club until mid-April, so I was going to give the kiddos a little "see you next quarter" something, and decided to make them some tiny animals. As a kid I loved (and still love) mini things, so I used Sculpty clay and made them each a tiny animal based on something they've said or made this quarter. 

Recent Art Club Creations

Assorted sea creatures:

The shadow of a woman paddling on a surfboard (view from underwater):

 The sun setting over the mountains:

Magnificent Nature Collages

The art club kids made some really neat collages today using cut-up maps, magazines, and origami paper. 

Here is an underwater scene featuring a group of hand-cut dolphins:

And beautifully composed animal collage:

This is an image of animals on land ("a square island") and animals in the sea - the three-dimentional piece is the sky!

This one features "animals who are friends":

This one uses maps of Durham (home) and Finland (where the artist has travelled) to make up the background: 

And this one uses a beautiful mosaic technique to represent the earth:

And Finally, a proud artist showing off his work:

Button creations

The kids in Art club have been brainstorming ideas and were inspired to make a bunch of giant sea creatures:

 

 Aren't they impressively realistic!?

Outer Space

A painting made by a 1st grader in art club... 

"It's in space and the space ship is passing the meteor and it's close to it but it doesn't hit it".

Creative clay

Here are some clay creations from Art Club last week. This is one student's family, complete with pets and dinner:

 And here is a hanging ornament with a neat geometric texture:

Beautiful work, as always.

A tower as big as Liz!

Their goal was to make a Kapla block tower as tall as me, and look! Mission accomplished.

(this tower has been brought to you by Peter and Brady)

A Bracelet Business

I wrapped pipe cleaners in yarn and braided them together to make these funky bracelets as a demo for an activity this afternoon. The kids at afterschool got totally into making them, and now have big plans to have a "business" selling them at recess!

Beautiful Bowls!

Here are the finished bowls the kids made in Art Club. Each one is unique and full of personality. I love the creative ways they kids mixed the materials!

Proud Puzzle-doers

Paper Mache Bowls

Today in art club we worked on the paper mache bowls we started last week. Now that they are hard and sturdy, they can be decorated in lots of ways, using all different materials...

Here are some shots of the decorating process:

Look at this happy face!

Next week, when the bowls are all dry, I'll snap some photos of the finished products (prepare to be impressed). Meanwhile, if you want to make our own paper mache bowl, I put together some directions after I taught a bowl-making workshop a few years ago in Chicago - you can find them right here.