Faux Batik

Here's a great project idea that I got from DickBlick. I've done these with kindergarten through 5th grade children. It does require a little more work on the teacher's part though because it's difficult to wash the glue off without washing off too much of the paint. I washed the glue myself and also ironed and hemmed the edges with fabric glue. For more details see:
http://cdn.dickblick.com/lessonplans/pdfs/gluebatik.pdf

Clay Faces

Making clay self portraits is always one of the favorites with the students-- and they turn out so darn cute! I use this lesson for teaching facial mapping with drawing portraits, and to teach simple clay hand building techniques like making slip and scoring/attaching. This project usually takes two to three, one hour classes. You will need Crayola Air Dry clay, acrylic paints & brushes, acrylic varnish, 8 x 10 or 9 x 12 canvas panel, Gorilla Glue, toothpicks, rolling pins, a sanding block and water. First I give a short lesson on facial mapping and drawing facial features. Then the students roll out their clay to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut into an oval shape. With the scrap pieces the students form the nose, lips and ears. I give them extra clay to make the hair. Then they lightly map out their features onto the clay with a toothpick. Once they get everything in place, they attach the nose, ears and lips. Next outline the eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows by "digging" in a little deeper with the toothpick. Now time to attach the hair and give it some texture. All done for today..... they need to dry for at least two days. Be sure to place on a flat surface. At this point, if there is time left, I have the students go ahead and paint their 9 x 12 canvas panel so it will also be dry and ready to mount their face to the next week.

Now that the clay is nice and dry, lightly sand the top to break off any loose debris and wipe off with a damp rag. Paint the whole piece a skin color, making sure the paint gets down in the cracks and on the sides. I usually put it in front of a fan for a few minutes to dry before moving on. Now mix up some hair and eye colors and let them finish painting. After this dries, I add a coat of Delta Cermacoat Satin varnish and use Gorilla Glue to attach to the canvas panel. These display nicely on a small easel stand, or you can take the glass out of a frame and insert panel to hang on the wall!

Pop Art Portraits

Pop art self portraits are a great way to introduce the primary colors, learn about artist like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, and I always go over facial mapping and how to draw the facial features. It really gets students out of a box and lets them have fun doing a cartoon- like rendition of themselves. We used tempera paint. a large sheet of watercolor paper, and outlined everything in black to really make the colors pop.

Gallery of Decoupage Creatures

This project has been one of my favorites and they always turn out too cute. It's a great project to teach about shapes and patterns (just make sure students are good using scissors or you will end up doing a lot of cutting). I use the small poster boards and purchase the precut tissue squares in the scrapbook isle. We decoupage on the tissue first (one color scheme really works best) and let it dry. This usually takes a one hour class session. If they get done in time, we draw out our animal or insect and I discuss shapes. We work on breaking their animal down into it's basic shapes for body parts when trying to draw it. I have them make a pattern and cut it out. Then they trace their pattern onto their fabrics , cut it out and cover with Mod Podge onto the background. The last step is to stamp the name of the animal with paint. We used yarn and buttons for accents and glued them on last.