Water pipes M10

7  and 8 year olds.
The inquiry topic is water. We focused on how we move water around. Pipes and drains.
The children began with an observational drawing of their shoe. Quite unrelated but a great warm up.

I asked the children to tape two pencils together so they could draw parallel lines on their page to represent pipes. They put their first pipe across their page, trying to make right angle turns. Subsequent pipes had to go under existing pipes. Challenging for some, but the results were impressive. They gave each pipe a different colour.

On a larger piece of paper they drew fatter pipes by taping a block between their pencils. They went over their pipes with a black marker.
They selected one pipe which they copied onto a new sheet of paper by holding it up to the window. They cut out the new pipe and I cut little slits on their page to allow the new pipe to thread through. It was like weaving. This gave the page a 3D look.
They used a different medium to colour each pipes...paint, coloured pencil, pastel crayon and used cold or hot colours.

Beetles K8

Five year olds.
This is another class who are dealing with 'mini beasts' as part of their enquiry.
The warm up observational drawing today was their shoe.
Followed by a discussion about beetles. They filled a page with black crayon drawings of beetles.
They drew beetles with pen, along a piece of wood, which they coloured with pencil.
They used sticks and black ink to draw the beetles. They drew the beetle with white crayon on white paper and put dye over it.
They used prepared cardboard shapes to make a 'shape beetle'. They used water colour paint to colour their beetle.
Six pieces of art.

We are 'beetled out' now.

Professional development

Professional development at Artsight in Auckland. They have a venue in Wellington too. I arrived late as Wellington airport had crazy fog and my flight was cancelled. I was generously offered the opportunity to attend another session later as I missed half of the day. What I did experience was valuable. This charcoal drawing is on brown paper which offers a mid tone. The addition of white paint is another tone and using an eraser, another. Added pieces of paper add interest. We worked standing, on large sheets of paper. If space allowed, it would be a great experience for children.

Clay Bells M13

7 and 8 year olds

The children have had very little experience with clay. When I asked them what they knew about clay, their knowledge was a bit sketchy. So I took the lesson slowly, demonstrating often and explaining why the clay dried quickly for some etc.

They made a pinch pot first. Turned them over and added a handle. The joining technique was taken seriously and slowly. They added patterns to the outside of the bell and their names on the inside.

They also made a small pea sized thing to hang in the bell when it is finished. These clay creations will be fired in our kiln once they have dried. 

Designing carpets in India

The carpet we bought.

A carpet factory owner in Agra, India, showed us the design room. I think this could be a great art/design project in the classroom. It is self explanatory and the materials are few. The children could make a small carpet based on part of their own design I think, with a bit of guidance. 

Tissue Beetles K7

5 year olds.

The children are very new to school. I was so impressed with their ability to follow instructions and their ability to work for a prolonged time. They discussed the attributes of beetles and drew one with a black crayon. I gave them a crayon so they would work 'large'. They were then given a black marker to draw their beetle onto card which I had punched a line of holes around.
I demonstrated how they could tear tissue paper to around about the right size and glue it onto their beetle drawing.
They followed up with threading wool through the previously punched holes.