The Making of a Spooky Village and a Poem

Happy Halloween!

Here's a look at the Scary House Prints my students created last week in after school art class. I had each of them donate one print to me and we created a spooky village. I had a kiddo use the formative assessment "poem activity" I spoke about here to create a spooky poem about the halloween village.

"Halloween Houses
Trick-or-Treating
Scary Like a Bat.
Spooky Night!"

ENJOY!!

Printmaking with Shapes: Spooky Haunted Houses

Cue the scary music! It's time to get spooky! In my after school class we talked about silhouettes and nighttime and fall. Although we don't usually walk around outside at night--we may be doing that soon if we Trick-or-Treat at Halloween. Halloween can be lots of things: scary, exciting, spooky, cold, dark, and tingly (I love that one!). I had the idea to create a spooky neighborhood and I asked the students to help me by creating their own Spooky Houses.

We had tried another way of making printmaking plates the week before, but the students were struggling a bit and I knew the final results might be "eh" instead of "WOW!" The class is made up of first- through fourth-graders and since they were all struggling with the media, I realized I chosen the wrong way to go about this project! So I rethought the project over the week and this is what I came up with...

We used sticky back foam shapes to create the "silhouette" or outline of our houses that we could then print onto different colors of paper. That's the cool thing about printmaking--you make one plate and you can re-ink it and print it multiple times! Below are the directions for the project. We did it during one after school class period, but I would do this over three regular art classes (to also include a basic writing component--more on that later). Anyway, this will get you started:

On the left: Printing plate example
Middle: The print
Right: The haunted house print embellished with details.

Spooky Printmaking Nighttime Houses

Supplies Needed For the Printing Plates:

• Sticky-back Foam Shapes (I bought larger sheets and cut my own shapes from them--squares, triangles, long, skinny strips, rectangles, etc.). 
• Mat board or foam core cut into rectangles for the printing plate (ours are 5 1/2" x 7" because that's what I had).
• Scissors
• Pencils

Directions to make the Printing Plates:

1. Arrange the foam shapes onto the plate to create the silhouette or outside shape of a spooky house. I had the students arrange the pieces first, then when they liked what they had created, they could peel the paper off the back of their shapes and attach them to their plates.
2. Add elements to the background: bats, ghosts, etc. Attach those to the plate as well. Younger kids may need help cutting out complex shapes such as bats.

Supplies Needed For the Prints:

• Your completed printing plate (from above)
• Newspaper for covering surfaces
• Solid colored papers (We used orange, 2 shades of purple, and lime green cut to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles)
• Washable printmaking ink in black
• A soft rubber roller
• A piece of plastic-coated butcher paper (maybe 14"x 17" or so)
• Masking tape or painter's tape

Directions to make Prints:

1. Before you begin, set up your work area by taping the butcher paper (plastic-side up) to the work surface on all four sides with tape. This will be the area you'll use for the ink and roller. Squirt a bit of ink on this area and use the roller to spread it around and load the roller. Also, place newspapers on the rest of your work surface.
2. Ink up the plate, and place a sheet of paper on top of it, rub and press gently & remove. Ta da! A print. Move it to a drying area (that has been covered with newspaper) and let dry.
3. Repeat to create more prints. I had the students make three to take home and one for me.
4. Let the prints dry before moving on to the next step.

Supplies to Embellish and Complete the Spooky Houses:

• Glue sticks and Elmer's glue
• Large sheets of black construction paper (12 x 18"), 1 per student
• Scraps of yellow, orange and red paper for windows and moons
• Scissors and pencils
• Sharpies (thin and thick)
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Halloween stickers (optional)

Directions to Embellish and Complete the Spooky Houses:

1. Have students glue three of their prints to the black construction paper sheet using a glue stick.
2. Have students draw and cut out windows and moons, etc. from the yellow scraps of paper. They can trace their pencil lines with Sharpie, if they like. My students also used Sharpies to add cracks to their windows, spiders, and scary phrases to the doors like "Keep Out!" and such.
3. Glue the windows, doors, and moons, to the prints using glue sticks.
4. Add goggly eyes to any critters on their prints, if desired: ghosts, cats, bats. Use Elmer's glue for that.
5. Embellish with stickers, if desired.

Close up of my trial print.

And now you are ready for a Spooky Fall Night! ENJOY!

Paper Mosaic Skull

Here's a quick little project that can be used in a variety of ways. These are 1/2" paper squares, but you could scale the pattern down to use 1/4" squares for a smaller skull. Mosaics have a definite art history link, but also tie in with math. This might be a good project to create when you have a couple of free minutes of downtime in your classroom or in your day (pack a less messy version of the project for your child to do at the doctor's office or in the car).

This skull was cut out and glued to two pieces of background paper--
a torn-edged orange and a black for a bit of contrast.

Here are the basic instructions followed by a couple of variations.

Skull Mosaic

Supplies Needed (for very basic version):

• Graph paper
• Pencil
• Sharpie
• Paper grid/pattern printed on copy paper
• 1/2" construction paper squares in white and black
• 1/4" strip of white construction paper
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Piece of construction paper (or patterned paper) for background (your choice of color(s))

Directions:

1. Using my example as a guide, create the skull "pattern" on graph paper. I made my squares 1/2" for my 5-year-old. Darken the grid lines with Sharpie so they will reproduce well. I used an ultra fine tip to show the division of the squares, but then a regular sharpie to bold the edges of the different sections of the design (edge of skull, eyes, nose, and mouth). Slightly shade the areas of your design that you would like to be black, so the children know to place black squares on those areas. I cut the skull pattern out and glued it to black construction paper so the children would know where the edge of the skull was and disregard the background.

The larger image in this photo is the pattern I made on graph paper,
cut out and glued on a plain black background so I could photocopy
it for the children. This keeps the background plain so they can focus on the skull.
The smaller image is a copy of my skull pattern, copied at 50% to make 1/4" squares
in the mosaic (good for bookmarks or a pin or something).

2. Photocopy the grid onto plain white copy paper.

3. Use glue stick to glue construction paper squares directly onto the photocopy paper. Light areas of the grid get white construction paper squares glued to them and shaded areas get black squares glued to them. Cover the entire skull pattern on the copy paper, but leave the negative space (background) around the skull blank.

4. When all of the squares of the skull are glued down, you can use the 1/4" strip of white paper to divide up the mouth area so that it looks like the skull has teeth. We just eyeballed this part. Attach the pieces with glue stick.

5. When all of your gluing is done, use the scissors to cut around the outside of the skull, cutting away the extra copy paper. Flip the skull over and put glue on the back. Place the finished skull on the background paper (this gives the piece a more finished look).

Other variations:

I used 1/2" squares for my 5-year-old to do this project, but you could use 1" squares and make a bigger skull (or increase the square size even LARGER and make one for the wall). Another option for older children, is to decrease the size of the squares to 1/4" to make smaller skulls to create a pin, bookmark, or to use as a decoration for a candle. 

If you want to create the mosaic to Mod Podge on a clear glass object (for a candle holder, etc.). Use your paper grid pattern as a guide, but layer some tracing paper on top of it and glue the paper pieces to the tracing paper. Then trim the excess tracing paper and Mod Podge the tracing paper (with attached paper mosaic glued to it) to the glass object you want. This is a process I've used a lot in my teaching, you can check out a similar post where we use tracing paper as a substrate for the paper mosaic pieces but we Mod Podge it to wood.

I hope you enjoy this quick little project with its many variations! If you use this project, be sure to send me your thoughts and photos so I can post them here--I'd love to see how YOU used this idea!

Monster Sketchbooks

Last fall, my (then) four-year-old son and I came up with these cute Monster Sketchbooks. He was able to make a few of them and then he happily drew and wrote his name in them while I worked next to him on some other projects.

These would be great for giveaways in lieu of candy (if you want to be "that house"-hee hee!) or a neat party or classroom craft. The matchbook case-style notebook is easy and quick to do. You don't have to do a monster-theme. This would also be a nice notebook to create before heading out on a hike. Bring your notebook with you and do leaf rubbings and draw from nature!

Monster Sketchbooks

Materials Needed:

• 1 piece of colored construction paper (9x12") for the cover (you could use orange for a pumpkin, green for a monster, purple for a vampire, white for a ghost or mummy, etc.)
• 3 sheets of white construction paper (9x12") for the drawing paper inside
• Scissors
• A ruler and pencil
• Stapler
• Markers and crayons

Directions:

1. Cut the piece of construction paper you'll be using for the cover in half lengthwise. You will have two pieces, each 4 1/2"x 12." You only need one per booklet, so put one aside for another use.

2. Cut each sheet of white construction paper into three 4"x9" pieces. Stack all nine pieces together and fold them in half. This will make the bundle of drawing paper inside your notebook.

3. Mark the cover and begin folding: Using the picture, above, as a guide, divide the cover rectangle into three sections: the first should be 1" wide. The next section should be 5 3/4" wide, and the last should be 5 1/4" wide.

4. Fold the cover at the 1" tab. Insert the folded edge of the stack of white paper into the cover at the 1" tab and staple. You can then close the cover and tuck it into this flap--like an oversize matchbook.

5. Use construction paper scraps and/or markers to decorate the covers of the sketchbooks like your favorite monster!

Happy Halloween!

Fall-Inspired Matisse Cut Paper Project

This project was inspired by Matisse's La Polynésie. I saw a similar project on the blog Ms. Sortino's Elementary Art Lesson Plan Page (it seems this blog is now defunct).

We talked about different fall icons: pumpkins, apples, gourds, leaves, acorns and what colors remind us of fall: orange, brown, yellow, gold, red (and some said black).

We then created artwork combining those shapes and colors made entirely with cut paper and scissors (no drawing first). I told the children they could either place one object in each section of the background or make the shapes floating all over, like Matisse did. BUT, they needed to create at least 8 shapes and they needed to be different sizes: some small, some medium and some large.

This would also be a cute Halloween project, and could be done on a smaller scale (on a 9" x 12" piece of paper instead of a 12" x 18").

Fall-Inspired Matisse Cut Paper Project

Supplies Needed:

• One 12" x 18" piece of construction paper for background
• One 9" x 12" piece of construction paper for background
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• One 12" x 18" piece of construction paper for border and shapes

Directions:

1. Fold the 9" x 12" piece of construction in half lengthwise and then again widthwise and cut on folds to create four equal rectangles. Glue to 12" x 18" background paper to create a checkerboard pattern.

2. Fold the other 12" x 18" piece of construction paper in half widthwise and, starting at the fold, cut about 1" away from the edge all the way around to create a border for the piece.

3. Glue the border to the background using a glue stick.

4. Use the construction paper left over from making the border to create the eight fall-inspired shapes for the piece. Attach them with glue stick to the center of the piece either one per box or floating all over the background.

Dancing Skeletons

This project is one of those "I can't believe I never thought of that!" type of projects. I was brainstorming during a play date this week about some ideas I had for a quick craft to make relating to Fall/Halloween. My girlfriend, who used to be a teacher, shared the idea for this craft with me. Thanks Jill! It is super easy and super inexpensive--I bought the chalk & dog bones at the dollar store. The dancing skeletons are cute and remind me of an old Disney cartoon I used to watch when I was a girl! Have fun making a whole conga line of dancing skeletons!

Supplies Needed:

• Dog bones (the hard crunchy kind, the ones I used are "medium" and are about 2" long)
• White tempera paint
• White chalk
• Black construction paper (you can use 9x12" or a larger sheet if you want to create a background)
• Paintbrush
• Paint tray
• Water & paper towels

Directions:

1. Using chalk, draw the skeleton's head (skull) onto the paper. This should be somewhere at the top and be about 2" tall. I like to make my skeletons happy and smiling--they are dancing after all!

2. Place some white tempera paint onto the paint tray. Dip the dog bone into the paint, getting a nice coat on the dog bone's flattest side. Place the dog bone, paint side down, onto the black paper and slightly rock the dog bone a bit to make a nice print. You may want to practice your technique before you start your piece. I stamped one bone shape for the body and two each for the legs and arms.

3. Use the chalk to draw the fingers and toes on your skeleton. You can also draw a background if you'd like, but you may want to keep it simple. I drew a couple of gravestones, some stars and a moon.

You are done! Enjoy your happy, dancing skeletons!

**This project doesn't have to be for Halloween. It is a good activity for a younger child to do when learning about the body and the skeleton inside him/her. I know it isn't anatomically correct, but it gets a dialogue going and if fun to create.