Polymer Clay Monster Face

Polymer clay is pretty cool stuff to work with. It has this great ability to stick to itself and not fall apart. I’ve used it with smaller size classes with some great results.

1. Each student should get from 6-8 different squares of polymer clay. Start by rolling a large 2" ball, and press it flat to make a base. Next the students are to build up a nose, and added teeth. The ears and hair should be added last, always taking care to keep shapes and colors symmetrical. IMPORTANT: Use baby wipes or the equivalent to clean hands after using polymer clay. It is known to be made of some very unnatural substances that don’t come off with just soap and water.
This artwork was created by my son when he was 8 years old. Mom is proud!

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Thick and Thin Trees

This project produced a lot of really nice paintings in my afterschool watercolor class today. It's a bit of a stretch to ask kinders to paint very gentle and curvy lines, but they got the idea at least that tree trunks are thick and branches are thin. Not a bad place to start.

1. I'm finding I can get pretty good prices on watercolor paper if I save up my coupons for Aaron Bros. and Michael's. I gave each student an 11" x 15" sheet and had them draw a yellow sun near the top of the paper with a yellow crayon. They were to press hard to make the sun really show up.

2. Using my dissolved Crayola tablets, the students covered the page with wide bands of color, slightly overlapping to get a little bleed.

3. This step is important as it helps to keep the tree lines clean and without any fuzzy edges. I gave each student a paper towel and had them lay it over the entire painting and press to soak up any wet spots. They repeated this for about a minute to get them as dry as possible.

4. I had saved dozens of black watercolor tablets since I generally use bright palettes.  I dissolved lots of them in just enough water to make black paint the consistency of heavy cream. The gave each student a small cup, along with a medium size watercolor brush. I showed them how to paint gently to get a smooth horizon line and a natural taper to the parts of their trees.

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Art Journaling 128

One of the journal page ideas that I really like is having a pattern of writing in the background of a drawing. With my class full of kinders and 1st graders, I'm finding that they really can't write that much, so starting with a magazine page full of type is a good substitute.

1. I prepped by collecting type only magazine pages, and trimmed them down to easily fit within our journal pages (6" x 9"). The students used ink pens to trace a body template, and then Sharpies to write things around the outside about themselves.

2. When the writing was done, I demonstrated how the students could take watercolor pencils, color a band of color around the body, and then paint with water to make soft edge.

3. When complete, I had some cool colored tape the students could use to attach the art to a journal page.

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