1st grade Still-Life Sculptures

Here is a FUN lesson that every child absolutely loves making!! The set up takes minimal time for the teacher which is a plus. Start saving those toilet paper tubes now!!!

Day #1: Students will need a toilet paper tube pre-glued onto a small piece of mat-board (or cardboard). I used a hot glue gun and the mat-board pieces measured 4x4. I quickly cut slits at the bottom of the toilet paper tube and glued it before-hand. It takes about 10 minutes for a class of less than 20. After a brief introduction to sculpture and found objects, I gave students a choice of painting the base in warm or cool colored tempera paints. 

Day #2: I talked for a few minutes about still-life and reviewed sculpture. Then we moved on to building the flowers. I pre-cut construction paper into 6x9 pieces and we used lids as a starting point to get the size of the flowers right. I showed the kids how to "jump" around the traced circle to create a flower. I also encouraged them to experiment with different line types to get different effects for the petals (but I also cautioned going overboard with the petals because it can become overwhelming to cut). We used construction paper crayons for fun details and patterns, then cut them out and poked holes in the center using a dull pencil. One pipe cleaner for each flower's stem is the anchor. I also offered straws for kids who wanted the flowers to stand up taller rather than drooping. Those were just slipped right onto the pipe cleaner and added stabilization. 

I would highly recommend this lesson to all. It really is very engaging.