3D Giant Butterflies and Bugs!

WOWEE!  SO FUN!

Directions:
1.  Using a big roll of white paper, we cut drew then cut out a BIG bug body
2.  Trace the first body to make a second
3.  Paint, color, glue, decorate the bug (both sides)!  Go nuts!  ...add Glossy Mod Podge for a little extra shine :)
4.  Staple the 2 sides together, leaving a hole to stuff the bug
5.  Using shredded paper from our office shredder and donated newspapers we stuffed and stuffed
6.  Once your bug is fat enough, close it up with a few more staples
7.  Add pipe cleaner for legs and antennas

2D Giant Butterfly

Materials needed:
-Big white drawing paper
-Crayons
-Scissors
-Black construction paper
-Glue

Directions:
1.  Fold the big white drawing paper in half
2.  Draw one half of a butterfly, just one wing, in black crayon...press HARD
3.  Fold the butterfly in half the opposite way
4.  Using a tool (like a wide popsicle stick) press down and rub the stick over the paper...the idea is to transfer the crayon enough to the other side so you can have a mirror image of the design
5.  Trace over the ghost lines with black crayon, pressing equally as hard so it's the same on both sides
6.  Color it in
7.  Glue a butterfly body in the middle

Paper Mache Fish

It's summertime art camp fun!

Directions:

1.  Apply paper mache around a blown up balloon.

2.  Once dry, pop the balloon and cut around where the balloon was tied to make the fish mouth.  

3.  Use paint, tissue paper, glitter, whatever else you have on hand to make some really cool and exotic tropical fish!  

Fall Leaf Centerpiece

Just in time for Thanksgiving dinner...this wonderful fall leaf inspired centerpiece!

Materials needed:

For Leaves
- Watercolor paper
- BLEEDING tissue paper, cut up in squares, using only fall colors
- Paintbrushes
-Cups of water
-Leaf templates
-Pencils
-Scissors
- Sticks
- Hot glue


For Pots
- Tempera or Acrylic Paint in fall colors
- Paintbrushes
- Marbles or rocks (to weigh down the pots)
- Spanish moss

Directions:
1. To create the leaves, start with one big piece of watercolor paper and place squares of the bleeding tissue paper, overlapping pieces, using a brush dipped in water to temporarily "glue" them onto the paper.  The water is what transfers the color off the tissue onto the watercolor paper so make sure the kids make it wet enough!
2.  Once the entire piece of watercolor paper in covered in tissue paper squares, gently remove all the tissue paper.  (it's okay if the paper is not dry yet)  The kids love this part.
3.  Once paper is dry, trace as many leaf templates onto the paper then cut out the leaf shape.
4.  Hot glue the stick intbetween 2 paper leaves and stick it in the pot!

Eyeballs!

Happy Halloween!

Let's make eyeballs!  

Materials needed:
-Crayola Air Dry Clay
- Permanent markers in black, red, brown, green and blue
- wooden dowel, chopstick or toothpick if you opt to poke a hole through to be able to string them as a necklace (optional)

Directions:
1.  Roll clay into a ball
2.  Poke hole all the way through
3.  Let dry
4.  Color in eye detais
5.  Thread onto string to make a necklace (optional)

April Showers mobile

Materials needed:
- wire coat hanger
- sturdy watercolor paper, 4 pieces of 11x14
- lots of cotton balls!
- school glue in bowls
- pre-made templates for the cloud shape and rain drop shape
- watercolor paint
- scissors
- string
- hole punch

Directions:
1.  Have kids trace the cloud shape twice on separate pieces of sturdy watercolor paper.  Cut out both.  Set one aside.
2.  Kids will glue cotton balls all of over one of the cloud shapes by dipping the cotton balls into the bowl of glue, eventually covering the entire cloud.
3.  While the cotton ball cloud is drying, give them 2 pieces of 11x14 watercolor paper and the rain drop template.  Have them trace the raindrop as many times as they can fit on the two pieces of paper.
4.  Then they will paint the raindrops with watercolor

Since my students are all pretty young the rest of this project I put together myself.  It was rather tedious but the results were cute.  If you have older students you could have them put together the raindrop strands.

First, staple the clouds back to back with the hanger inbetween.
Next,
1.  Cut out raindrops.
2.  Cut string, 3 pieces approx. 2 feet long.
3.  Glue the raindrops back to back with the string down the middle.   I glued 2-3 raindrops onto each strand (See photo)
4.  Hole punch the cloud and tie the raindrop stings to it

I added a lighting bolt made from lightweight cardboard with aluminum foil glued on to each child's mobile.

Worry Dolls

Worry dolls originate from Guatemala and are a trusted source for your troubles.  Tell your doll what is worrying you and then place the doll under your pillow at night.   

I have done this project with kids in my regular art class as well as in a more therapeutic environment as part of my Masters program, with a group of kids who had all suffered some kind of loss (divorce, death of parent or family member).

Materials needed:
- Wooden clothespins...(optional - I glued mini popsicle sticks to the sides for arms with hot glue)
- Yarn
- Glue
- Markers

1.  Start by talking about worries and how it is normal to have things that we worry about.  Ask for volunteers to share what worries they have.  Examples may include; after a death of a family member there is worry of losing another, worry of abandonment by one or both parents, worry about never seeing a certain family member again, worry about changing schools or moving to a new town, worry about being home alone.

2.  Show the kids how to wrap the yarn around the worry doll, slowly and carefully, experiencing the calmness that a repetitive motion can induce.  Remind them to go slow and breathe.  Kids can switch colors of yarn to make pants, skirts, shoes, etc.  Use a little bit of white glue to glue down the ends of the yarn.  Try to overlap the different yarns, which also secures the loose ends.

3.  Glue on yarn hair and draw on a face (optional)

Easy-Peasy Homemade Scratch Art

I love scratch art paper and was curious to see if I could make my own.  Here's how we did it:

Materials needed:

• white paper (heavy enough to take paint)
• crayons in bright colors (take out the black, brown and dark blues)
• black tempera paint (tip - drop a few drops of dishsoap in it, for some reason it helps)
• paintbrushes or sponge brushes
• wood dowel with a sharp end or toothpick

1. First, have the kids draw a big rectangle on the white paper that fills up almost the whole page. (Having a border will help later, so kids don't paint to the edge of the paper and get paint everywhere)
2. Then, pressing hard color with crayons on the white paper inside the rectangle.  Encourage them to fill up the whole rectangle!  Don't leave ANY white showing!  Suggest to them that they might want to just draw designs or bold strips of color because we will be painting over the crayon. 
3. Next, the kids will paint with black tempera covering their entire colored rectangle!
4. Let dry thoroughly.
5. Last, give the kids their scratching tool and scratch away!