Week 4- Gold Rush

Gold Coin
*cardboard  circles (pre cut for younger kids), glue and/or string, tempera or acrylic gold paint, optional: gold glitter
Each kid designs their coin with glue or with string glued onto cardboard. The next day, after the glue dries, the kids paint the coins gold. Note that acrylic paint can stain :( but dries quickly :) so you could actually paint both sides in one session with the acrylic paint.

Clay coins or Shrinky Dink Coins
*Crayola air dry clay, clay mats, little dishes of water, shishkabob sticks, gold tempera paint

If the clay gargoyles went well, you could make gold coins out of clay instead of cardboard. Or buy some gold permanent markers and create some gold shrinky dink art. Always a camp favorite!

Note: See cutting tips above. I like to use a metal wire cutter. Cut Crayola brand into 2 discs. Then use 1/16 of one of the discs. That will yield 32 pieces of clay from each container (for the gold coin project that is). I only used a stick (like a shishkabob stick) to carve. Carving is not the easiest if you like your designs neat. You have to go slowly. You can also look at Week 8's clay project (clay medal) for more ideas in working in relief. Let the clay dry for a day or two and then paint. Don't forget to mark each kid's name on the back of the project.

Incan Gold Mask
*tagboard or old cereal boxes (the grey side), yarn, scissors, glue, gold paint
Each child cuts the shape of his mask (teacher can provide templates). Then yarn is cut and glued into place to show the facial features. The next day, after the glue dries, the mask can be painted gold. Note: if you have money in your budget, you could try metal tooling. Check out these beautiful Incan-inspired masks on The Princetonol Website

Pet Gold Nugget
*materials: rocks, gold glitter, glue, other craft supplies such as googly eyes, pipe cleaners, glue, etc. (use up leftover materials from sock puppet)

Poke Pocket
(definition: a small bag, little pouch, that a miner carries gold nuggets & dust in)
younger kids: paper, hole punches, yarn
older kids: felt, needles, embroidery floss, yarn
See 2011 Wild West Week lessons ~ Sewn Satchel (note: I believe the kids did this at camp last year and really enjoyed it)