Clay...butterflies...turtles.... with just 8 more student days!

Next week will be our last week of school, yay! We will be packing up all our art work to take home. This week we are finishing some very important projects. My 2nd graders are completing mix media butterflies (from clay and paper), 1st made what I'm calling Stacking Turtles, and K are creating clay pinch pots.

My second graders started off learning how to create coils with Crayola air dry clay. I like crayola for the sake of quality and ease of use. The one thing I've learned though is keep your construction thick and chunky. Too delicate tends to break.

Students used clay tools to create impressions and designs in the clay to make the body original.

I added pipe cleaner pieces for fuzzy antennaes while they stayed in the classroom to dry and harden.

After these are dry we can color the bodies with crayon. Yes, crayon does work. I can even rub them with black paint to create a batik effect. Students also created symmetrical wings with construction paper and construction paper crayons. We glued the bodies to the wings. Use GLUE ALL! School glue isn't going to cut it with these.

Love 'em!

Now with 1st grade I showed students how to create a turtle body using a "rainbow" line for the top of the shell then a horizontal line across the bottom to complete it. We use a triangle tail, circle head, and letter U's for the four legs.

I told them to leave some "air" between each shell to leave room for legs. Each shell has been decorated with patterns using yellow and orange crayons.

We painted the shells with liquid watercolor, turtle bodies with neon green tempera, and the background with yellow liquid watercolor.

I have tons more and each one is different. I'm going to ask a few of my students if I may borrow theirs to hang up for the new school year. Hopefully I will have a few turtles and watermelons to brighten the halls and greet us into the 2012 - 2013 year.  :)

A note about Crayola Air Dry Clay:
I do not have a kiln, nor the resources for one. I know this clay isn't particularly cheap nor is it perfect. However, I like the product. I've used it for many years with a rather high success rate. I can cut down 25 lbs of clay to meet the needs of 100+ kids. Its possible to do really amazing things with a small piece. The main issue every time I use it will be when my kids work too small, too detailed, or too thin. That stuff will crack and break easily. Thick and chunky construction is the best way to go.

Last Minute Craftiness

I saw classes just one day this week.  I decided to do something special with them since I normally miss Monday classes due to holidays and such. In keeping with our Thanksgiving/fall/harvest theme this week I decided to use the old toilet paper tubes again with my younger students. We made Native American Symbol Drums! Quiet drums I might add. Gosh we just get so crafty sometimes it almost hurts. 

Native American Symbol Drum

This is created by using a 4 1/2 x 6 inch piece of brown construction paper, toilet paper tube, small piece of computer/scrap white paper, construction paper crayons, and glue.

I pre-glued white paper onto each tube (similar to the way we did the soup cans last week) for my kindergarten students. (Make sure this is dry before giving to students). Then I hand each student a drum and their brown paper. They looked at examples of Native American symbols and could draw their own using their crayons onto the brown paper. When they filled the paper, we glued the brown construction paper around each tube and students had to hold it with two hands, like an icecream cone, for a long time so the paper would stick.

When dry I showed students how to play the drum by tapping it with a flat index finger. Out of 37 kids only 3 tore the top by using a pointed finger. That's not too bad of a ratio. The kids loved playing the drum back to their classrooms and luckily the sound of tapping computer paper isn't very loud.

Native American Symbol Medallions

My younger sister is interning right now in a 1st grade classroom and happened to have some left over crayola air dry clay from a project she did. Well I snapped the extra up and used it with my 1st graders at my school. We ended up making Native American Symbol Medallions.

Clay? with 1st graders?  Totally. They are completely capable with the right rules, expectations, and instructions. I had 33 students create their medallions on Monday and they all turned out unique and awesome. I am so proud. We also looked at the same Native American symbols my K students saw, but my students drew with plastic utensils. I first showed them out to roll the clay piece into a ball in their hands, then on the table, then gently press the clay to make a disc. It should be as thick as their pinky fingers otherwise the clay will dry brittle. Several had to ball up and try again until we got it just right.

Then they drew into the clay with their plastic utensils. I love these and the kids were so surprised and thrilled to be part of this special opportunity. I used the end of a paintbrush to poke a hole in each one and strung yard through when they were more solid. 

Now... its time for a break. Woo hoo!