I created the "Masterpiece Gallery" years ago with frames donated from a framing shop that was going out of business. I used cork that comes by the roll as the backing and covered the cork with jersey fabric in primary colors. |
However, I recently did come up with something that I can keep up with. It's a two-minute activity I do with the kids as they are lining up to exit. I hand one random kid the inflatable microphone, making him/her our host and I shout "And now it's time for..." and the kids reply "the Smartest Artist!".
I then proceed to ask the kids questions about what we've covered today. For example, my fourth grade is doing metal tooling. So my questions were "What activity were we doing today?" "What is it called when you dent the metal in with your tool? (embossing)" "What is the Egyptian symbol for life?"(we are using Egyptian symbols in our design). You get the idea. As I ask the questions, the host will call on a boy or a girl and we keep score on the dry erase board.
The kids really seem to enjoy it. In fact today I was asked if we could make sure to clean up on time (because Mrs. Inconsistent is ALWAYS running late) so we'd have enough time to play.
Today, my littlest friends, the kindergarten, learned how to play a fill on the drums. They were wildly excited. Afterward, we drew self portraits of us rocking out on the drum set. Many thanks to Forks Drum Closet http://www.forksdrumcloset.com for the generous donation! |
Okay, look. I don't claim to be the Smartest Artist. But if you need an end-of-the-class, everyone-loves-it, educational activity, I say try it. You might like it.