Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Easy-Peasy Pizza Sculptures!

I'm always looking for a better way to do projects. I had done pizza sculptures a la Claes Oldenburg before (see here) and I thought that my Modern Art kiddos would like them too. I had originally had students create the pizza form from two pieces of newsprint stapled and stuffed with crumpled up newspapers ad then paint the sauce and toppings. While that worked out OK, the pizzas got a bit muddy with all of those toppings being painted over one another before they were dry. So, I got to thinkin'...
YUM! Bacon, sausage and pepperoni pizza!

I bought some red and kraft-colored wrapping paper at IKEA this past Christmas and thought the weight and color of them would be nice for the sculptures. I thought the children could cut a brown triangle for the bottom crust part and a top triangle from red for the sauce part...however, I used all of the red wrapping paper at Christmastime. Oops! But I had a plan...

I had the children cut both triangles for the pizza from the kraft paper, staple & stuff and then paint the sauce on with red tempera. While they were drying, the children created their toppings from construction paper scraps. This worked out great for timing and they came out great--love the bright red sauce!

The toppings are a study in size, shape and color! I had some take-out menus from pizza places and we made a huge list of toppings the children could use on their pizzas. I also made my "at least three" rule with the toppings: the children had to create at least three different toppings for their pizza (not including the cheese). Most of them were happy to oblige!

So have a no-calorie pizza party for your class or family and have fun using up all of those paper scraps you've been hanging onto!

Easy-Peasy Pizza Sculptures

Supplies Needed:


  • Medium weight paper (large sheets or a roll of paper)
  • Triangle templates cut from poster board (bottom crust template should be about 5" longer than the top crust so you can roll the triangle up and make the crust of the pizza)
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Newspaper or paper scraps to stuff the form
  • Stapler with staples
  • Red tempera paint (or white if you like a white sauce)
  • Paint brushes
  • Water bucket, paper towels
  • Paper scraps for pizza toppings
  • Elmer's glue
Directions:

1. Cut two triangles from kraft paper for the top and the bottom of the pizza slice. As I said above, the bottom crust triangle should be about 5" longer than the top crust so you can roll the triangle up and make the crust of the pizza.

2. Layer the two triangles on top of one another and staple along the two pointy, side edges or the pizza, through both layers. Leave the crust edge open, creating a pocket.

3. Crumple up newspaper, lightly, and stuff the pizza slightly, to give the pizza slice some dimension. 

4. Roll the open edge of the pizza slice inward a couple inches to create the pizza crust and secure with a couple of staples. You now have a giant slice of pizza!

5. Use tempera paints to paint the sauce on your slice of pizza. 

6. While it dries, you can use paper scraps to create toppings. To create the toppings you can rip, or cut the paper, or even use different punches as you see fit. To create multiple shapes (for mushrooms or other unique veggies), fold the paper multiple times and then cut through all the layers--you'll make a number of uniform shapes at once. Much better (and faster) than cutting out individual mushrooms!


6. When the paint is dry, attach the toppings to your pizza slice with glue. I had the children dribble the Elmer's glue in a zigzag motion over the sauce and then sprinkle the toppings on. Lightly press the toppings into the glue (the glue will dry clear).

YUM! Let's eat!



Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Claes Oldenburg Giant Food Sculptures

I just started my latest after school art class and the theme is Modern Art! I'm so excited! I love Modern Art and children usually do too. For our first class, I wanted to do something that was fun and allowed for a good amount of creativity, so I chose to have the children create giant food sculptures similar to those by Claes Oldenburg. I had a HUGE roll of medium weight paper that was given to me from a printing company and it was easy to work with and didn't get flimsy when painted with tempera paint. 
Ummmm...I think I'm gonna need a bigger plate!

I began by showing the children some examples of Oldenburg's famous sculptures such as the huge soft sculpture chocolate cake he created. I had also created my own version of it (chocolate cake with white frosting, sprinkles and a giant birthday candle on top) that was about 3 feet tall so they could really see what I was saying about LARGE food. I brought the templates in for them to create a slice of cake (like Oldenburg's) or a slice of pizza (very simple to do), but the children had ideas of their own so I decided to go with it and let them create whatever food they wanted to. We had quite a selection: popsicles, chocolate bars, a cheese wheel, cupcakes and more!

I think next time, if I do this with a larger group, I would stick to the same food--have them ALL do a slice of cake or a slice of pizza, but it worked out and I think the children learned so much about constructing 3D forms. I could see this project also being linked cross-curriculum to math and have the children create a slice of cake and then figure out, mathmatically, what size paper they need to go around the sides of the cake slice. I'll need to explore this more....

Claes Oldenburg-Inspired Giant Pizza Slice

Supplies Needed:

  • Medium weight paper (large sheets or a roll of paper)
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Newspaper or paper scraps to stuff the form
  • Stapler with staples
  • Tempera paint, assorted colors
  • Paint brushes
  • Water bucket, paper towels
  • Paper scraps, optional, for pizza toppings, etc.
  • Glue sticks and Elmer's glue, optional
Directions:

1. Cut two triangles from paper for the top and the bottom of the pizza slice. They should be the same size. Our triangles measured 24" x 24" x 18" but that is approximate.

2. Layer the two triangles on top of one another and staple along the two 24" edges, through both layers. Leave the 18" edge open, creating a pocket.

3. Crumple up newspaper, lightly, and stuff the pizza slightly, to give the pizza slice some dimension. Leave about 4" unstuffed at the end (you'll be making the pizza crust with it).

4. Roll the 18" edge of the pizza slice inward a couple inches to create the pizza crust and secure with a couple of staples. You now have a giant slice of pizza!

5. Use tempera paints to paint the crust, sauce and cheese on your slice of pizza. While it dries, you can use paper scraps to create toppings.

6. When the paint is dry, attach the toppings to your pizza slice with glue OR just paint toppings on with additional paint.

YUM! Let's eat!

Giant Wheel of Cheese

Super-Giant Chocolate Bar

Yummy Cupcake
(This size looks like a regular serving for me!)

Giant Taco! Olé!

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