Thinking Outside the Box

My students in school are currently making imaginative sculptures out of recycled boxes. Although I rarely repeat art projects from year to year, box sculpture is one I assign every year. In fact, the children in my art program usually make a point of asking to do it, because they enjoy it so much.

The materials needed for this project are simple: recycled cardboard boxes, paper towel or toilet paper cardboard rolls, and cardboard egg cartons. We use masking tape, white glue, scissors and lots of imagination for the first stage of our sculptures. My students have made such diverse constructions as horses, lions, butterflies, trucks, robots and caterpillars... Almost anything is possible, & therein lies the value in this project - amazingly open-ended possibility.

I love the fact that this is a sculpture children beginning at age six can manage mostly by themselves. Older kids can make more complicated pieces. For example, I teach a ten year old who is building a sky diver, and an eight year old who's making a clown spinning a plate on a stick! I'll be posting some of the projects in process soon.

More About Obama Drawings

When we made Barack Obama drawings in school (see previous post), I taped a sheet of clear acetate over each child's picture. Then we used permanent black Sharpie pens to write short, inspiring quotes from our new president on the acetate, placing the words in a graphically interesting spot over the drawing. Students also used the Sharpie's to outline images, or to add details on the acetate layer. These became magical drawings in two layers: the bottom paper layer in Art Stix colors, and the overlay piece of acetate, with black Sharpie words of Obama's, and drawing additions. Sounds a little more complicated than it really is... They turned out quite well, & I'm thinking of sending some of the finished pieces to President Obama.