In the Art Room: Clay Tacos!

Hey, friends! I thought I'd share with you a fun clay project that you can do with either kiln fire or air dry clay: Clay Tacos! I did this project with my kindergarten kiddos and it was a huge hit. It also taught them a ton: clay can capture texture; how to create a sphere, coil and a slab, the holy trinity of clay sculpture; how to adhere clay with an alternative slip and score method. So here you go: Clay Tacos!

One thing I love when working with clay and kiddos is introducing them to texture and clay. We step on the clay, pound it into textures, you name it, we try it. My favorite thing is to have a variety of lace, doilies and burlap for them to experiment with. 

With a class of 20 kids pounding clay flat, it is going to sound like a crazy roll of thunder (with echoes of lots of laughs from the kids) but I have found it to be the quickest and easiest way to introduce the kids to creating a slab. 

With a beautiful textured piece of clay, the possibilities are endless! In fact, I'll be sharing EIGHT of my favorite air dry clay projects using this method and more at the Art Ed NOW conference! 

Have y'all signed up? You really should, it's a ton of fun. 

I explored EVERY air dry clay on the market (seriously) when working on my clay book which is now available for sale here! Many of the air dry clays have the look and feel of kiln fire so it's a great way to introduce kids to the magic of clay even if you are kiln-less. So get you some clay and make you a clay taco today! 

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In the Art Room: Welcome to the Jungle

During their first week in art class, all of the artists were asked to create a monochromatic self-portrait on a 3" X 3" piece of paper. I love how their excitement about the Parisian theme in my classroom inspired their work.

 Well, I thought I'd do something a bit different in this In the Art Room blog post. I usually wait until the kids have finished a masterpiece to share it with you. However, I just don't see a completed project in the very near future. You see, we are neck deep in self-portraits, passports, suitcases and airplane sketches. And just when I thought I might have that madness managed, the teeny tiny kindergarten artists invaded the art room. On top of all that, I went nuts and decided I needed to do some redecorating. Long story short, that's just real life in the too-many-things-going-on-at-once art room. And we really wouldn't have it any other way.

That being said, I will share these projects with you again once completed. Until then, here's a peak into the art room jungle. Enjoy!

In preparation for our art adventures around Europe, we've been chatting about what we would pack in our suitcase. Best item packed to date: "I'm taking nail polish and beauty products. I want to look good in Paris!"

If you are an art teacher that has been on pinterest for more than 5 minutes, then you've seen the Rainbow Self-Portrait mural. It's a stunner. We created one last year and it was a hit. This year I had the genius idea that we'd use the same concept but for a map of the world. The only prob? Self-portraits that need to be half land and water. That's been a bit tricky, but we're getting there.

Seeing photos of our school mascot Jes in front of the Eiffel Tower have us dreaming we were there. By the way, don't you love the design of this shirt with the cut-out shoulders? I think we may have a future fashion designer on our hands.

Passport Control: Creating these passports with the kids gave me a new appreciation for the hard work that our classroom teachers do everyday. We did a lot of writing which was a task for some. However, I never heard one complaint. They loved creating these little books. Our next step will be to stamp a golden eagle on the cover and add our first stamp (France!) to our passport.

We've even begun speaking a little French in art. We can actually have a little conversation! We've learned "Bonjour! Ca va? Bien, merci. Je m'appelle..." It's really quite fun.

And then there was kindergarten...I love them. Their first day in the art room was just last week. Already these little geniuses have begun creating paper sculptures. This project is a great on in that everyone is successful and just knows they are the best artist ever.

When I teach this lesson, I tell the kinders that they must take their strip of paper and give it feet so that it can stand. Once they have folded the paper and created feet, they tickle the feet with a little bit of glue that they paint on with brushes. I stopped using glue bottles years ago. I just got too stinkin tired of unclogging the things. So we keep our glue in little cups with lids and spread it on with old paint brushes.

Once they've mastered creating a curved line, I introduce zigzags and spirals. Our last addition to these sculptures will come on the final day: lines becoming shapes.

I have been in my beautiful classroom for years. I always take time to decorate my windows but I've always been at a loss as to what to do with my cabinets. Because I have many, I have to label them. And last year, I created a world wall with them. This year, I decided to decorate the back of the shelves with the elements of art.

This was so simple I couldn't figure out why it took me so long to come up with the idea. I simply measured the back of the cabinet, cut bulletin board paper to size and painted away.

I don't have enough cabinets for all seven elements of art so some were combined. These two seemed to make sense.

So there you have it. A Plate-Too-Full, Too-Many-Things-Happening, Busy-All-The-Time art room. Nothing short of tres chic!

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