End of the year: 5th grade

And now, some of my 5th graders work from the end of the school year. These are simple 9x12 weavings embellished with hand-drawn hieroglyphics. The highlight are the Egyptian drawings - inspired by several color copy handouts I gave the kids to observe from. They really enjoyed the challenge of this figure drawing assignment as you can see in the examples. Pencil first, sharpie to make it all pop and then colored pencil. 

And to end out the year, we made some jewelry using the Kumihimo weaving technique. Kumihimo was invented by Japanese fishermen to braid rope. It means "gathered threads." The kids went cuckoo for this - I even did!! It's so fun and EASY! I have to say it was pretty magical. I taught myself how to do it from the Dabbles and Babbles blog before showing the kids. To make the loom, the kids cut out a circle from mat board, which can be a little heavy for them, so I was on guard to help. We traced around yogurt lids. After they drew and cut the dashed lines around the perimeter for the slits, I used a box cutter to draw an X in the center, then poked a very thick pencil through to form the hole. Sometimes the looms just get "tired" after making a bracelet or necklace (even when made from something thicker like the mat board), so have some extra board on hand because your kids will want to make more than one!

End of the year: 2nd grade

2nd grade spent several weeks exploring the country of China during our multicultural art making and learning unit. We made Chinese lanterns in celebration of the lantern festival, origami paper necklaces (which actually turned into gifts for Mother's Day), and one class even had time to make a dragon mask! See below:

The lantern lesson was inspired by Deep Space Sparkle 

Paper necklaces are so easy and fun to make, but it does take some prep on the part of the teacher prior to class. See this post from last year for the scoop and give it a try! 

The masks were inspired by a really striking illustration I found via Pinterest. I broke down the drawing into simple lines and shapes as we worked on red construction paper. Then the kids traced their work using sharpie and colored using construction paper crayons. As students finished cutting out their dragon face, they brought it to me and I used masking tape to attach a thick kraft stick to the back. To reinforce the entire mask so it would stand upright without flopping forward, I taped down a large paper plate on top of the stick and then cut off any pieces of the plate that were poking out. The kids were really excited about these! 

1st grade Ceramic Bead Necklaces

One little 1st grade class got to make these super cool necklaces during the last week of school this year!! These ceramic beads are pretty chunky - about an inch or so in diameter. We actually made them last year (when the kids were in Kindergarten) and never got around to using them. I kept them thinking that one day I would know what to do!! I couldn't imagine trying to glaze them as I thought it would be too cumbersome. Then I remembered this technique I had seen out there where oil pastels are used on bisque-ware before being soaked in a bath of watery black tempera paint! Wah-lah!! I had my idea!

Plastic drinking straws were cut up and used as long spacers along with colorful pony beads to make the necklace designs

 **did you know?** 

Pony beads got their name because that particular size and shape of bead was historically used to decorate the harnesses of warrior's ponies when they went into battle. Although they are made of plastic now, then they were made of glass, wood or bone.

After the kids colored their beads with oil pastels, I kept them in an egg container with name tags. I dipped them into the paint after class was over and allowed them to dry this way. Worked great!! Before we made our necklaces, I threaded large embroidery needles onto cotton string and placed a piece of tape on the other end, which served two purposes:  to write names and keep the beads on the string. 

2nd grade Paper Bead Necklaces

I learned how to make these paper beads from a very dear colleague. They are especially a perfect treat for Mother's Day!! All you need to do is paint thin paper (think copy-paper-thin) in warm and cool colors. Cut the paper into 2" strips (with the paper in landscape position) and then into triangles. I used a colored pencil to wrap the beads, starting at the wide end. Smear on the glue stick and wah-lah.....The kids were so excited!! These necklaces were put together by 2nd graders. I made the paper beads ahead of time for sanity's sake. Pony beads are perfect for the in-between spacers and fit right over the embroidery needles.