Week 11- Go Green!

Rolled Paper Beaded Necklace:
*recycled glossy mailings and magazines, scissors, Elmer's glue, straws and/or shishkabob sticks, string, pony beads
Each bead starts off as an isosceles triangle, cut from junk mail or old magazines. The longer the triangle, the thicker the bead. The wider the base of the triangle, the longer the bead. A little glue and a little patience is then all it takes to form a lovely, biconal bead. Space paper beads with 1 or 2 pony beads and string into a necklace. A beautiful, recycled piece of art is formed!

Inspiration: Women in Uganda make these exact types of beads and beaded jewelry. The only difference is they seal the beads to make them waterproof and they make hundreds of beads. The sales of these necklaces help the women and their families have a better life. Many women invest the money they earn and start their own businesses, in many fields, after their 18-month training with BeadforLife. Check out the necklaces at beadforlife.org This is a great project for kids and adults with a wonderful community and global connection.  

**2022 update: Bead for Life retail store is now closed but the mission continues with Street Business School. What is Street Business School? 

"Street Business School is a world-class entrepreneurial training program that builds women’s confidence and provides business skills, so they can launch micro-businesses and lift their families from deep poverty." (source: https://www.beadforlife.org/)

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Cereal box Shoes
*empty cereal boxes, scissors, pencils, tape
Cut open empty cereal box and trace both feet. Cut out tracing. Cut and attach any number and widths of straps. Tape straps to base of foot. Best for indoor use.
Note: this lesson was done at 2011 camp.
Alternative: create a wallet out of cardboard

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Toilet Paper Tube Dolls (Soft Sculpture)
*1 toilet paper tube/child, 5"x14" muslin fabric, thin rubber bands, batting (small ball per child), markers, glue, scissors, other craft supplies to decorate (buttons, scrap fabric, pipe cleaners, yarn) - note: felt is very easy for kids to cut
Inspiration: Faith Ringgold (American Artist, born 1930). Ringgold’s family was very artistic. Her mother was a fashion designer and dressmaker. Her grandmother learned how to quilt from her great-great grandmother and passed this tradition down. Ringgold took these family traditions and created "story quilts" (see books like "Tar Beach") and sculptures that were soft. Sculptures are 3-dimensional, not 2-D or flat. The book Talking to Faith Ringgold is very inspirational.

*Step 1 – take batting (used inside quilts) and put into top of tube (to shape the head) 
*Step 2- place fabric over tube
*Step 3- place rubber band around doll’s head (I show them how to do this step by step- place over head, not tight enough, twist, OPEN, place over head one more time)
*Step 4- smooth the fabric and “fluff” the head if you need to (take a marker and push up from inside, pull up on fabric & batting too)
*Step 5- write name on bottom/outside of tube with with markers
*Step 6- color doll (face, clothes) and add other craft supplies (buttons as eyes or a pendent on necklace, yarn for hair/make a pom-pon, pipe cleaners as arms). Note- I tucked the fabric and pipe cleaner under the rubber bands, no need to glue.

Week 5- Heroes

Red, white, & blue Japanese braided bracelet
*6" cardboard cake circles (I ordered online at webstaurantstore.com), prep circles with 8- 1/2" cuts all the way around edge of circle (older kids can do this) and poke a hole in center with scissors (careful!), red, white & blue yarn (kids measure 2 arms lengths and need 7 pieces cut), pencils to label cake circle and help poke yarn through the hole (note- you'll need to prep this for younger kids but older kids can put yarn  on the loom themselves with guidance)
See lesson plan below:

Red, White & Blue Tree Whisperer paper tree
*various papers and tools to decorate, draw and write poetry, string, hole punch
http://treewhispers.com/
Take a moment to view this website and I promise you will be very inspired!

Paper beaded necklaces
*paper (old magazines, junk mail), rulers, pencils to draw, scissors, glue, straw/shishkabob stick/old pencil to roll bead onto, thin yarn, pony beads- optional
note: this project falls under "heroes" section because the people involved in the various projects help make life better for others around the world. These groups are Beadforlife.org, metowe.com (see keynote Spencer West who visits Bay Area and "Mamas necklaces")
     See bead information from Ugandan paper bead rolling

Rolled Paper Beads a Success!

The rolled paper beads the 4th-5th graders (and a few 3rd graders) made for our Cultural Arts Day on the Lake Victoria Region of Africa were amazing! This was a lot of work but it was fun to make something so beautiful out of recycled paper. Each bead started off as an isosceles triangle, cut from junk mail or old magazines. A little glue and a little patience is then all it took to form a lovely, biconal bead. All students at our school wore the necklaces, that were handmade by the 4th-5th graders, on Cultural Art Days. The lovely BeadforLife ladies visited us that day and many families purchased necklaces made in Uganda to wear as well. The excitement was contagious!

Women in Uganda make these exact types of beads and beaded jewelry. The only difference is they seal the beads to make them waterproof and they make hundreds of beads. The sales of these necklaces help the women and their families have a better life. Many women invest the money they earn and start their own businesses, in many fields, after their 18-month training with BeadforLife. Check out the necklaces at beadforlife.org  This is a great project for kids and adults with a wonderful community and global connection.

Photos: necklace created by 3rd grader, Beadforlife bracelets, The Spirit of Uganda dance troop

Ugandan Art Ideas

Soap Carved Mask:
Just finished my first ever soap carving- how did I escape childhood without doing this? This is a possible craft for our school's Cultural Arts Day on Uganda in 2012. With 30-45 minutes, the kids may need to finish at home if they are perfectionists like their art teacher.
*Tools: plastic knife, chopstick, toothpick and popsicle sticks.
Remember to look at all sides while carving. Be prepared- soap dust everywhere! At the end, kids will need to wash hands with water only.

2D African Mask:
The 4th & 5th graders are drawing African masks with oil pastel & pastel right now in art class (see above sample and directions below). We will watch a video of a mask dance/rite from Western Africa http://www.sorosoro.org/en/the-mukuji-rite-with-the-punu-from-gabon

**ADDENDUM ON MASKS: we learned during our African studies that masks are more Western African than Eastern. Thank you to Francis, Ed, Elizabeth and company for all your great work on Cultural Arts Day!

Batik with spray bottle:  Another idea for a craft rotation.
*Tools: white crayon or candle, paper, diluted paint in spray bottle (I used tempera), paper towels
Kids draw designs, adult teaches proper "spray bottle techniques" (quick, open & close motion~ not slow and incomplete pull). Each kid gets up to 4 sprays, then wipes off extra "dye" with a paper towel. A new, double-folded school paper towel is placed around batik like a folder to get home safely.

Beaded Necklaces:  
Tools: recycled glossy mailings (campaign mailings, Bed Bath & Beyond Coupons, etc), scissors, glue, old pencils, string, pony beads
Kids will make necklaces in art class before CAD, to be worn the day of.
http://www.beadforlife.org/video/4DVDRoll.html

The Art Room is going Green!

I've struggled over the years to get paper, and only paper, in the paper recycling bin in the art room. The kids have good intentions but in the rush of clean up and desire to go "free draw" rather than walk a few extra steps to the correct garbage can, we find interesting things in the recycling bin (and plenty of paper in the garbage can). So this June, Sarah, who will be in 5th grade this fall, painted my recycling bin! A picture says a thousand words right? Hopefully this will be a great reminder to recycle and conserve resources. Who wouldn't want to help conserve materials and preserve animal's habitats when viewing this lovely mural-in-the-round?

This beautiful painting will help kick off our fall theme~ Go Green! We will make better environmental choices in the art room, continue collecting recycled materials to make art out of (see previous "Go Green" post) and do some nature studies. I have hopes to draw from nature (flowers, leaves, sticks, trees, insects), do leaf rubbings, work with sand and rocks again and create art out of dried gourds.

Week 9, August 1, Go Green Week

Extra project: Flip Flops from cereal boxes
*empty cereal boxes, scissors, pencils, masking tape
Note: kids can make flip flops throughout the week. The Louise Nevelson project listed below will allow for extra time for other projects (example- gluing base will only take 15 minutes).
Instructions: Cut open empty cereal box and trace both feet. Cut out tracing. Cut and attach any number and widths of straps. Tape straps to base of foot. Best for indoor use.