Survey Says: CLAY!

I'm going to be returning to my teaching schedule soon and wanted to poll my previous after school students to see what they wanted to see more of in the coming year and the media that won was: CLAY!

This is probably no surprise to some of you, but this means I am going to make a serious effort to include some awesome clay projects with this year's classes! This does take a bit of planning since I don't have a kiln--this means air dry clay it is. I have some plans for Model Magic, Crayola Air Dry Clay, and plans to test a couple of new (to me) air dry clays on the market. Any suggestions?

Another downfall: drying space. Since I'm "art on a cart" I don't have space to store the items safely where I teach while they dry. That means I pack all the clay items up, load them in the car and bring them home to dry until the next class. This stresses me out! I worry that one of my kids will get into them or the dog will knock them over. I'm come up with some good ways to transport and store clay creations in progress, but it will be nice when I don't have to worry about moving them.

So, without further ado, I repost this lovely "Forever Sandcastle" post I did awhile back. The lesson is from Family Fun magazine and is really fun for the children to make. Make one yourself and enjoy those summertime memories all year long!

Whip up a batch of air dry sand clay
to make a forever sandcastle of your own!

Dollar Store Preschool Art Ideas

I have two little ones under 5 and there are some times when I need to keep their hands occupied, but I don't want to have a mess on my hands (like just before dinner!). In my travels around cyberspace I've collected a couple of age appropriate art ideas that would work perfectly!

Yarn Art on a Sand Paper Board

I made a list and went to the dollar store and bought much of what I needed! These ideas are not mine and they are out there in abundance. Make a couple of these for your little ones for busy time, a car ride or to give as a birthday gift for your favorite preschooler! ENJOY!

Mini Salt Sensory Table

Supplies Needed:

• Small tray (a dark one works well)
• Salt (about 1/3 cup)
• Miscellaneous stuff: paint brushes, cookie cutters, small scoops, little trucks (we like construction/snowplow ones)

Directions:

1. Place 1/3 cup salt in the bottom of the tray. Too much and the child won't be able to "draw" in the salt properly.

2. Play! Actually, this is a great way for children to explore drawing shapes and letters. They can "draw" in the salt or push it around with the construction vehicles for a mini sandbox experience. This is the messiest activity of the bunch, but cleanup isn't too bad...

Cost: $1.50 (not including Misc. "stuff")

This salt activity tray idea is from "Teach Preschool" blog. I LOVE this blog! It is full of wonderful activities and experiences for the younger set. Deborah is so creative, I look forward to seeing what she comes up with!

Salt: messy, but fun!

Mess-Free Fingerpainting

Supplies Needed:

• 1 gallon-size zip top freezer bag
• About 1/3 cup tempera paint
• Piece of foam core or heavy cardboard, optional
• Duct tape

Directions:

There are a couple ways to do this: you can either put two colors in the bag such as red and yellow and have the child mix them and learn about color mixing (red & yellow make orange) OR you can just put paint in the bag and move on to the fun! Either way, you'll want to put about 1/3 cup paint total in the bag (too much doesn't work well) and then squeeze the air out of the bag and zip it shut. Then use duct tape to further seal the seam closed. I taped ours to a piece of foam core so it is portable.

Cost: $3.00 if you use cardboard you have at home for the backing

Oldest son says "It's like an iPad!" So sad...

Sand Paper Board (With Variations)

Supplies Needed:

• Coarse Sandpaper Sheets (Yep, I got a pack at the dollar store!)
• Hot glue gun with glue sticks
• Heavy cardboard or foam core
• Duct tape, optional
• Sharpie or black paint, optional
• Yarn bits

1. Glue the sandpaper sheet to the cardboard or foam core using hot glue. Cover the edges of the piece with duct tape, if you'd like a more "finished" edge.

2. On some of the boards, draw lines (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, wavy, curved, zigzag, etc.) with a marker or paint. Another idea is drawing shapes such as circle, square, triangle, etc. 

3. Cut bits and pieces of different colors of yarn and have your child press them onto the sandpaper (following the lines you drew, if desired, or making his/her own pictures). The yarn will stick to the sandpaper and can be removed and reused over and over! Felt and cotton balls also will stick to the board.

Exploring shapes and lines.

Forever Sandcastles

So, the past week has been spent at the lake while my oldest three children take swimming lessons. I enjoy the sun and relative peace while my littlest child scoots all over the beach (she doesn't crawl), getting sand in her diaper. I have been thinking a lot about sand these days, after taking great pains to clean the sand out of everyone's shorts, diapers, food, sunscreen, car seats, etc. This week's project is all about sand: creating sandcastles from a dough that allows your project to be enjoyed long after the summer fun is done.

This project is originally from Family Fun magazine. I originally did this project at the beginning of the school year with my art students. I thought it was a good way to ease the students from summer into a year's worth of medieval art. While this project can be done with children as young as preschool age, results will vary, so don't be too concerned if the masterpieces of the younger set don't look quite like castles! Have fun and enjoy the sand!

Supplies Needed:

• Sand dough, recipe to follow
• Small shells
• Small twigs or toothpicks
• Pieces of scrap paper and glue stick for flags
• Tacky glue
• Paper plates covered in wax paper (to use as a work surface)
• Plastic table cover
• Colored pencils & scissors to decorate flags
• Castle books for inspiration

Directions:

1. Start by making the sand dough. Use an old metal pot that is not non-stick (the sand will scrape the finish). You can make the dough 1 day in advance, just keep it tightly covered until ready to use.

Sand Dough Recipe:


1 cup sand
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. alum (found in the spice section of the grocery store)
3/4 cup water

Combine the dry ingredients in the saucepan using a wooden spoon. Add the water and stir until the mixture is smooth & combined. Cook the clay over medium-high heat, stirring once in awhile. The clay will start to thicken. As it begins to thicken, stir more frequently. After about 3 minutes of cooking, the dough will be the consistency of play dough. Remove the clay from the pan and let cool a bit. Once the clay is cool enough to touch, you can begin sculpting.

2. Give each child a portion of the dough (1 batch will make enough for two children). Have the child work on a paper plate covered with a piece of waxed paper (that will make the sculpture easy to remove once it's dry).

Some of the elements you may want to include in your castle are:

The Keep: the last defensible part of a castle. This is the "building' portion of the castle.
Crenels: Openings cut from the top of a tower or wall for guns or arrows to fire through.
Moat: A water-filled ditch surrounding a fortress.
Drawbridge: A huge, heavy door that was raised and lowered over a moat to stop or allow entry into a fortress.
Bailey: A courtyard inside a castle compound.
Loop hole: A thin opening in a tower wall to let light in or to see out and to shoot arrows or fire guns through.
Battlement: A fortified top of a castle wall or tower.

Once you are done sculpting your castle, you can use shells to embellish it. The children in my art class used shells to make patterns on the sides of their castles, or as doors or windows. You can use the point of a toothpick to make brick texture or windows on the side of the castle. Now is also the time to create little flags for your castle out of bits of paper glued to toothpicks and stuck into the dough. Do this while the dough is still wet though--once it is dry it is rock hard!

Now you can let your castle air dry. It will take about 2-3 days or so. Any shells that fall off during the drying process, can be reattached with some tacky glue.

Enjoy your little bit of summer!

The castle from above

Resources:
When I presented this lesson to my art class, I had the following books on hand for them to look at:

“Castle,” by David Macauley (ISBN 0-395-25784-0)
“Castles,” A First Discovery Book, Scholastic, Inc. (0-590-46377-2)
“Knights and Castles,” by Philip Dixon (ISBN 1-4169-3864-8)
“Knights and Castles,” by Fiona Macdonald (ISBN 0-8368-4997-3)
“Knights and Castles: Exploring History Through Art” by Alex Martin (ISBN 1-58728-441-3)
“Medieval Castles,” by Lynne Ferguson Chapman (ISBN 0-88682-687-x)
“See Inside a Castle,” by R.J. Unstead (ISBN 0-531-09119-8)
“The Story of a Castle,” by John S. Goodall (ISBN 0-689-50405-5)
“The World of Castles & Forts,” by Malcolm Day (ISBN 0-87226-278-2)