In the Art Room: Gallery of Gratitude Portraits!

After the holidays, with Valentine's Day on our minds, I like to have the kids spread a little love and cheer. I've got lots of lovey-dovey based projects in the works which I'll be sure to share. One project that really spread a whole lotta warm fuzzies was one we did a couple years ago called the Gallery of Gratitude. 

You can read all about it here. This project meant so much to the folks I work with. They were stopping in their tracks, reading the words the kids wrote about them, taking pictures, crying...it was AMAZING. We did it right before Thanksgiving to give thanks. I knew I wanted to do the project again this year...but missed the Thanksgiving deadline. So I thought it would be perfect for the winter...when we could all use some warm fuzziness. However, instead of drawing the portraits like we did previously, I decided we'd change it up a bit.

A while back, an art teacher (whose name I don't recall so I cannot give credit to -- so sorry!!) did modeling clay portraits with her kids and they were SO FUN. She shared the the kids looked at the author/illustrator Barbara Reid. Y'all have to check out Barbara's books and videos, so amazing. After watching her videos, I realized just how easy this would be for my fourth grade students. Here are the supplies we are using:

* Modeling Clay. The brand does not matter! And the stuff is CHEAP! So much cheaper than Sculpey and full of color. I bought some inexpensive variety packs from the craft store.

* Matte board. I used matte board because of the weight of the clay and I wasn't sure if it would warp cardboard. I happen to have a TON of matte board so it came in handy. I cut ours to 4" squares as I wasn't sure if the kids could do large pieces. They could have totally done it!

* Model Magic Clear Glaze. The thing is, modeling clay NEVER EVER dries as it's a combo of wax and oil. However, with a thickish layer of the clear glaze on top, it becomes pretty hard.

* HOBBY LOBBY METALLIC PLATES! Y'all! I saw these at the Hob Lobs a couple months ago and just about fainted. The perfect fancy frame, right?!

*Old school yearbooks. So we could look up the person whose portrait we are making.

* Names. These are the names of folks whose portraits we are making. We'll be doing a portrait of every person who works in our school building. 

Video demo I created for the kiddos: 

We started the project yesterday. We spoke a lot about gratitude, what it means, how to show it. Then I had the kids draw a name of a person who works at our school. I told them that if they were happy with the name they got, they could go to their seats and get started. If they didn't know the person and were interested in trading, they could remain on the floor. The kids remaining on the floor shared who they had and traded. A few kids were allowed to redraw a name if they had no clue who the person was...and I knew kids in my other classes would be happy to create that person's portrait. I did have a couple teacher's kids in the class who we all agreed should have first dibs on their parental units. Everyone was happy with who they were creating.

When I share my videos with my kids, I do not show them the entire video. Instead, I break it up into bits. For example, before we drew names, I had the kids watch the first part of the video about covering the background. Then we drew names and set to work. Thankfully, my heat was working and my art room was SUPER warm. This really helped with the manipulation of the clay. In the video, you'll notices I struggle a little because my heat was not working on the clay was super cold and hard. So crank up that heat for this lesson!

After completing the background, the kids came to the floor and we each announced which person we were creating a portrait of. That was fun and the kids were so excited. This is their last year at my school so many of them shared memories of the person whose portrait they are creating. We then watched the second phase of the video about creating a skin tone and creating the basic shape of the head, neck, ears and nose.

I will say this, a couple of kids made their head shapes super small. So I had those who "got it" go around and help make the heads a little bigger. For my next class, I'm going to have a head shape created out of paper and request that the kids place their clay on top and stretch it to that size...I think this will help make the heads bigger and more consistent in size.

I made sure to write down whose portrait was spoken for so that I could keep track of who we were creating and who still needed a portrait made. We might end up having a handful of extra teachers and staff...and I'll put my early finishers on those.

Here is my teacher example! I'll be certain to share our progress with y'all!

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In the Art Room: Box of Chocolates UPDATE!

Join us tonight right here at 8pm CST on Wednesday to chat about BURNOUT. We've all been there. Let's share our stories and talk about ways of lifting ourselves out of burnout and getting the fire back into our art teacherin'. See you real soon!

Hey, y'all! Just thought I'd do a wee update on this incredibly fun project my students just wrapped up. They learned all about contemporary artist Peter Anton, created a heart-shaped box armature, covered it in papier mache and made fun plaster-cast chocolates. We are finishing them off this week and I thought I'd share. 

Here's the lesson video I shared with my students. This project took us about three one-hour art classes. 

 Supplies:

* Tag board for heart: one 8" square
* Tag board for sides of heart: 1" X 24" 
* Stapler
* Tape
* Newspaper cut into strips on the paper cutter
* Papier mache paste. We used wheat paste after checking for gluten allergies.
* Paint for the heart
* Plaster. We used Art Plaster by Activa Products
* Containers to make the "chocolate". We used ice cube trays and egg cartons
* PUFFY PAINT!

 Day One: We made the armature. We were in the middle of wrapping up another project so we did the armature in one class and early finishers completed their previous project.

 Day Two: We did our papier mache! It was good messy fun. Then we did an insanely fun clean up...

I hosed the tables down with shaving cream and let the kids spread it out and draw and play in it for a good five minutes. Then we had a Clean Up Game. Here's how it worked: I placed a tub of water and sponges on each table. I told the kids that WITHOUT TALKING, they were to wipe down their tables and get their table the cleanest in the room. I even provided old hotel key cards for the kids to scrape off the glue. You have never seen kids work so hard! If you go here, and scroll down a pinch, you can catch a couple short clips of my kids in action. 

Day Three: We picked out three to four plaster cast chocolates and painted them in a couple different shades of brown. While those dried, we painted our heart-shaped boxes. With about 10 minutes left of class, I busted out the puffy paint...and the crowd went wild! The boxes will be sealed with sparkle puffy paint before being placed on display.

This project was definitely a kid fave. Love to hear if you've given this lesson a go in your art room! 

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In the Art Room: Candy Heart Sculpture UPDATE!

 My fourth graders are wrapping up their Candy Heart Sculptures and I thought I'd share how they turned out. The kids loved creating these and were thrilled with their work. I'm not much of a project-repeater but this one might have to be done again! Here's the process video I created to share with my students and you:

I know several of y'all did this project with your students and mentioned that paint was flaking off. I only saw a little bit of that...so I'm thinking it might be the paint used. It's a constant search to find paint that is both nontoxic and good quality paint without being super expensive. We used a combination of Blick tempra, Sax Versa Temp and Chroma paint. I did seal the hearts with a quick couple swipes of ModPodge to prevent chipping and add a little shine. 

I knew the struggle would be with the lettering...which is why in the video, I cover it so thoroughly. I'm happy I did, I think they did a great job painting their words on that lumpy bumpy plaster. 

Knowing that I'd have some early finishers, I grabbed four large boxes out of the recycling bin and put those kids on candy box painting duty. I had primed the boxes with white paint the night before and just drew on it in pencil. If I have time, my plan is to grab some laminating film and make it like a window in the box. Early finishers also wrapped up this drawing lesson:

I'll be certain to share their drawings soon!

The sayings the kids picked out was my favorite part. I thought it spoke so much about the kid creating the heart. 

 I had printed out a list of the hundreds of sayings that Necco has used every year on their hearts. I told the kids they could come up with their own saying...or use one of Necco's. All I asked was that I check what they planned to write first. I didn't have any issues with inappropriate sayings...but I didn't want to take my chances. 

Love to hear from y'all if you gave this project a go! I'm off to put these on display in the library. 

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In the Art Room: Street Art Hearts

Ah...gotta love those early finishers and those pokey little puppies all mixed up in one big ole art class. I have just that currently with my fourth graders finishing their Candy Heart Sculptures (they are SO AMAZING, y'all! I'll share soon) and third graders wrapping up their Heart Shaped Box of Chocolates. What to do? I needed a lesson that would be a one-day event, engaging, reteach the principles of art and introduce the kids to a contemporary artist. So I created this fast and fun lesson on street artist, photographer and fashion designer J Goldcrown. 

When the kids walked in the room, I began the video. While it was playing, I pulled those kids who still needed to work aside, reviewed directions, passed out their supplies and got them settled in and working. By the time I was done, the video was in a great place for me to stop it and review the directions with the kids. Here's the video:

This lesson is so simple and effective that it can be used with students as young as kindergarten on up to middle. I gave my students the chance to use either white or black paper. Some kids enjoyed it so much, they made a masterpiece on both white and black paper. 

I love the work of J Goldcrown. It's been fun to introduce the kids to him and Chris Uphues. I love their heart-filled works! And these look so great hanging in the halls. 

I often get asked what brand of chalk my students use...we love KOSS brand chalk. 

 I don't use expensive fixatives to set the kid's artwork. Instead I use cheapo cans of Aqua Net from the dollar store. Work just as well. 

Each kiddo was super engaged in this lesson which was fab as it allowed me to help those kids painting their hearts.

You'll have to let me know if you give this lesson a go in your art teacherin' world! 

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In the Art Room: Third Grade Faux Box of Chocolates!

I have to share with y'all this faux box of chocolates project my third graders are working on...they are so excited! So far, we've chatted about our artist inspiration, Peter Anton, created an armature for our box of chocolates and used newspaper and wheat paste to papier mache our box. Next up, we are using our plaster cast forms to create candy! The above is my example...

 And this would be Peter Anton's! Don't you love it? He's an American sculptor who is often referred to as Candy Warhol. He's created many sweet and savory sculptures but at this time of year, I'm partial to the heart shaped box of chocolates. Here's the lesson video:

Here are the supplies we used:

* Tag board cut into 1" X 24" 

* Tag board cut into an 8" square

* Tape

* Newspaper

* Papier mache paste

* Plaster

* Paint

* PUFFY PAINT!

If you've never used papier mache with kiddos before, just a few things: 

* Check for allergies. I used wheat paste but made sure that we didn't have any gluten allergies before doing so.

* Sensitivity issues. Several of my students have sensitivity issues. Meaning, they don't like the texture of papier mache. For those kids, I had buddies who finished early offer them a hand. 

* This stuff is MESSY. In the best possible way, says me. However, we did a very successful clean-up party after the fact that the kids loved. When most kids were finished with papier mache, I explained to them that if they were standing quietly behind their pushed in chair, I would squirt shaving cream on their table. I gave them five minutes to go bananas, be loud, have fun and draw in the cream. When the five was up, I announced that we would be having a CLEAN UP CONTEST. I placed tubs of water and sponges on each table. My rules were there was to be NO TALKING...only cleaning. The kids were to squeeze their sponges over the tub of water and use it to wipe down the table. I also provided old hotel key cards for the kids to scrape glue off the tables. You can see my kids in action over on Instagram (I'm @cassie_stephenz). Not even gonna lie, they totally rocked clean up! The best tables got the grand prize of lining up first. 

I'll be sure to share an updated blog post when the kids have completed their boxes and candy. My early finishers will not only write about what they've learned but give their candy company a name, make a list of ingredients and design the lid of their box. I can't wait to see what they come up with!

Until then, Ima go eat me some chocolates, y'all! 

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In the Art Room: Recycle Hearts with First Grade

Yesterday, I shared on Instagram (I'm @cassie_stephenz), I shared this fast and furious 2/thirty minute session art project that I did with my first grade students using recycled materials...and I received many questions. I'm MISERABLE at responding to questions on Insta (I dread typing on that tiny phone keyboard with my sausage fingers) so I promised to share this simple project in blog form. So here you go!

 This lesson was created outta the fact that I had two classes that were ahead of the rest (gotta love that!). We've been focusing on the theme of love and last week finished off our 101 Dalmatians. Recently, while second grade was cutting out hearts for this project, I noticed how pretty the negative heart shapes looked when laying on the surface of a messy mat. Later, when I was tidying up, I found a stash of transparency film and had a eureka moment...what if the kids collaged tissue paper onto the film and created a faux stained glass window! I hope that thought process of mine made some sort of sense. Isn't it funny how ideas come to us?

Day 1 of a 30 minute class...

Supplies:

* Transparency film cut into 8" squares
* Warm colors of tissue paper
* Modpodge
* Large brushes
* Paper to write names and transport wet transparency film

We chatted about loads of stuff before starting: warm colors, transparent, translucent and opaque. We also talked about static electricity as the transparency film was so staticky! One kiddo said, "it's art science!" Art is a science, buddy. The kids then went "shopping" for their supplies. They were to coat their transparency in Modpodge, apply whatever colors of tissue they liked and then add another layer of the 'podge. This was placed on a sheet of paper with their name on it and placed on the drying rack. 
The next day, they looked like this coming off the drying rack. So pretty! We had fun holding them  up to the light. This was also a super fun color experimenting activity as many of the students noticed that when certain colors overlapped, they created new ones. 

Day 2 of a 30 minute class...

Supplies:

* Messy mats cut to 8" square (these are the tag board mats the kids use under their artwork when they are painting. I got the idea from my buddy Laura to use them for art projects and I LOVE it!) 

* Black and white paint

* Paint brushes and Q-tips

The next day, the kids were to pick a messy mat which they liked the colors of. They traced a heart template, cut it out (starting at the bottom of the heart to make a clean cut) and bring it to me. While I hot glued their "stained glass" to their negative shape, they worked on painting their positive shape hearts. 

In my room, we talk A LOT about using a paint brush correctly, pretending it is a ballerina who always dances on her tippy toes...and never EVER scoots around on her bottom. This really helps my kids understand how to create delicate lines. Once their hearts were dry, I framed them with more recycled messy mats!

I'm so excited how pretty these turned out. Our halls are looking so LOVEly right now. I can't wait to add these to our displays. 

Hope y'all have a lovely weekend. Stay warm, rest up and take it easy. That's my plan, anyway. 

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In the Art Room: Clay Heart with Wings Update!

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to lead the amazing teachers at my school in a clay session. It was apart of a team building experience and my trusty admin was open to just about anything. I decided to go with the theme of love as the teachers I work with are truly some of the most loving and caring folks. We chatted about how we love our students and give them wings to fly...and that was the message behind our creations. This morning, I took these beauties out of the kiln and I was so excited, I thought I'd share and give y'all and update!

If y'all recall, the teachers made and glazed these all in about 45 minutes. I had a lot of questions about glazing greenware (fresh clay) and I wanted to chat about the pros and cons. The reason I had the teachers do it all in one sitting as I know that our schedules are so crazy that I'd only have one shot to get everyone in the same room at the same time. The pro is that glazing greenware allowed me to do just that: get every masterpiece completed. The cons are that glazing greenware provides a more pastel look to the glaze coloring as the glaze mixes with the damp clay and dilutes it. Knowing that, when a glaze that didn't look complete in coverage, I added another coat before popping them into the kiln. I also had the help of my specials team who slapped clear glaze on all the pieces and helped me load the kiln (have I ever told y'all how much I love my team?!)

Knowing that I'd have a packed house that day, I decided to create a video that would walk them through the process. This made it so everyone could see and hear my directions while watching the video on my big screen T.V. Here is the video, feel free to use it!

By the way, this is low fire clay, cone 06 and Mayco's Stroke and Coat glaze. 

If you know me and my clay habits, you know I love me some textures in my clay. And I really love how the teachers each used them in their pieces.

 The texture on the heart on the right was from a freebie placemat!

 Several folks opted to leave their hearts all white and I really loved that look as well. The scrolls were created by some teachers...the plan is for them to write a message on the scroll in Sharpie.

 Check out this show stopper!!

I can't wait to have the teachers come and pick up their hearts tomorrow! The plan is for them to use cooper wire as a hanger for their heart. 

 I love how each artist put their own creative spin on their heart.

 The look of this one is so pretty. 

 I had so much fun leading this session...and I heard so much positive feedback from the teachers. I think everyone finds it relaxing to sit, chat and create. It was a fun way to return to school after the winter break. 

Speaking of my team, there's a few of them right there! Love these folks to pieces. 

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