African Mask Milk Jug Mask, Willow Springs 10-11

Used with:  Kindergarten - 6th grade

MATERIALS: 
1 gal milk jug cut in half lengthwise 
White, black or brown spray plastic primer Markers, crayons, paint 
Yarn, raffia, seeds, paper, feathers, etc.  for decorating 
White glue
Masking tape
Scissors 
Hole punch 
Newspapers for covering table (this is a messy project) 

PREPARE AHEAD: 
1.  Cut clean milk container in half lengthwise. Handle side will be used for mask 
(handle becomes nose). 
2.  Prime the outside of the container a few days ahead of project day, so primer can 
dry. 
3.  If desired, punch a few holes around the perimeter of the mask. 

PROCESS: 
1.  Give each child a cleaned and primed milk container half. 
2.  Supply a variety of colored markers, paint, or crayons for children to color their 
masks. 
3.  The children can then add embellishments, such as gluing seeds, yarn, feathers, 
paper and raffia on the masks.  
4.  Raffia and yarn can be tied into the holes punched on the perimeter of the mask 
to create hair or an animal’s mane. 
5. If desired, tie a length of string or yarn from holes from one side of mask to the 
other side in the back so the mask can be hung on the wall. 
6. Lay flat to dry. This project may take a few hours to dry. 

Carmen Lomas Garza Loteria Cards, Flint Hill ES, 12-13

Used with: Kindergarten - 3rd grade

Materials

1.   1 piece of Watercolor Paper 

2.   Black Crayons 

3.   Watercolor Set 

4.   Dish of Water to be shared among students 

5.   Handouts of images with Spanish words will be shared among students. 

Students can use their pencils to draw their designs. They can be quick drawings though so tell students not to go into too much detail. The line images on the handouts are pretty simple. Spanish Dictionaries are on the carts for students who would like to look up their own words for objects that are not on handouts. 

Kindergartners can focus on objects and not writing words. When the objects are finished being drawn in black crayon, students can do a watercolor wash over their objects. The crayon won’t smear. 

“Loteria” is a Mexican card game similar to Bingo. They are making  their cards by drawing two vertical lines and two horizontal lines crossing over the vertical ones, so making 9 rectangles on their paper. Rulers or straight edges may be used. They can draw objects of their choice. These are similar to the etchings Garza created for her own Loteria cards. 








2nd grade







3rd grade

Mondrian, DeStijl Painting, Flint Hill ES 12-13

The project is DeStijl Paintings made with 12 x 12 white paper, pencils, rulers, red, blue and yellow tempera paint, black construction paper strips and glue.

Each Student Gets:

1. 1 piece of newspaper. Volunteers please bring this to your session. This is to cover desk to prevent paint drips and so students have a base for applying glue to their black strips without getting glue on desks.
2. 1 piece of 12 x 12 white paper. One per student please.
3. Use own rulers or pass out from the cart
4. Use own pencils.
5. Distribute paint by color. Paint will be in gallon containers with pumps. One primary color per paper plate. Students will share paint. One yellow, red and blue set per 4 or 5 students.
6. Sponge brushes and Q-tips are used to apply color to their designs. The angular sponge brushes are shared, one goes with each color. No water will be distributed in class, so keep colors separated for each sponge brush that is used. Sponge brushes can be washed and dried with paper towel after your session is finished.
7. Distribute glue from gallon container on paper plates. Use glue sparingly. Kids can use Q-­tips to apply glue to back of black strips. Then they can be glued down on their designs 

Students start by creating a design with parallel and perpendicular lines with a ruler and pencil. This can be as intricate or simple as they’d like. For younger grades we recommend a simple design with fewer criss-crossing lines. Once design is set, students can decide what rectangles and squares to fill in with the primary color paint. A little paint goes a long way so PLEASE USE PAINT SPARINGLY. Once rectangles and squares are filled in, students can start adding the black strips. They may have to cut the strips to different lengths to fit their design. Hair dryers will be on the cart if you think they need them, but we did not wait for our paint to dry before gluing the strips when creating the samples.

da Vinci, Fresco, Navy ES 12-13

Objective: To familiarize students with fresco techniques used by Leonardo da Vinci.

Background: Our fresco material is similar to what da Vinci painted and drew on during Renaissance times.  Perhaps the most famous fresco project completed by da Vinci was The Last Supper. Artists today still use this technique.  In Renaissance and modern times the same artistic technique is used; artists draw and paint directly onto plaster when is still wet.  The damp plaster absorbs the drawing medium thus making it more permanent.  (And more of a challenge, as the artist must work quickly in small areas.)  During Renaissance times frescoes would have been found in a church or palace and actually was drawn and painted onto walls!

Materials:

Fresco – 1 per student (dried plaster on burlap)

da Vinci Handout - 1 per student

Chalk Pastels - (browns, natural colors) shared among students

Paper Plates – for pastels to be shared in groups

Glue – 1 per classroom, to be used by Docent

Tongue Depressors  - 1 per student

Spray Bottle – 1 per classroom, to be used by Docent (you may want to bring in another one also)

Example Fresco – 1 per Docent to be used as example (yours from the training session or a blank one to be used today)

Newspaper – 1 piece per student - to protect each student’s desk

Extra Materials needed from classroom

**Smart Board - (teacher will have it set up with the portfolio ready)

**pencils

**baby wipes

**stapler

Vocabulary for Docent and students:

Fresco – a style of drawing or painting on plaster; especially popular in Renaissance times.

Renaissance - (= re-birth) It is the time between the late 1400s-1600s. A time when Italians became more interested in art, music, reading and book collecting.

Portrait – a piece of art where the main idea is a person.

Invented/envisioned – to be the first person to think of something.  To dream of; sometimes to actually make or build a working example.

Pastel – colored chalk used for drawing.  Good for blending, smudging colors to show shadows. 

To Age – to make plaster look old. Could be broken or smudged to become more aged.

Set up – While one Docent is presenting the portfolio on the Smart Board (20 mins max!)

Second Docent is:

1.      Preparing pastels for groups of students. Place one of each color on paper plates (should be in baggies) for each group to share (depending on how desks are set up)

2.      Put water in spray bottle, if needed

3.      Separate newspaper to make it easier to pass a piece to each student

4.      Get ready to pass out materials when other Docent is introducing the project, after the portfolio presentation

Docent introduces art project: (5 mins max)

Procedure –

1. Show blank fresco – Tell the students there is only 1 fresco per student, and there is no erasing or starting over. Smearing the pastels to create soft lines is important, and that can also help hide any mistakes.
2. Discuss what they will be drawing (depends on grade level; see below)

 Grades K-2 – Draw a Portrait – can be self-portrait or portrait of family, friend, made-up person and head and shoulders only.  Make sure they choose 1 person only because of space.  Each student has recently had a lesson on self-portraits in their art class, so students should only need a quick review of drawing portraits.  Remind them to make the face about the size of their hands. Demo drawing on damp plaster with pastel. Oval for head, eyes half way down head (not in forehead) and other facial features.  Demo smudging chalk in hair, under chin, one side of nose (around the larger features, not eyes, etc.) to create shadows similar to daVinci’s style of sketching on fresco. 

Grades 3-6 – Draw an Invention – can be one of daVinci’s inventions or one of their own.

Discuss thinking of something they’d like to have in their everyday life, something that could help others, etc. Demo drawing on damp plaster with pastel.  Big, simple shapes will work best, not tiny details.  Show how to hold pastel to find the “point” as it’s worn down.

3. While one Docent is introducing project, the other Docent should pass out a piece of newspaper and blank fresco. Spray each fresco with a couple of sprays of water; so, damp but not dripping wet

4. Let them work. Circulate to assist with questions.  Do not draw on their artwork!  Remind K-2 to do their best work, if they have “mess ups” to turn it into a creative idea, as daVinci would have.  Add a hat, or longer hair, or a scarf, etc.   Remind 3-6, if necessary, da Vinci was an inventor, so are they now. They can invent whatever they want, and it can look however they want.

5. When students are finished drawing:

K-2 – leave as is – no breaking or cracking

3-6 – demo gently bending over edge of desk, drop carefully on the floor, to create cracks (from 1-3 large cracks) to “age” the piece. Aging is optional! 

6. Seal the plaster. Dallop a generous tablespoon of glue on every student’s fresco and pass out spreaders (tongue depressors). Demo to all grades how the glue should be spread with the tongue depressor, careful not to scratch or overwork pastel drawing under glue.  The glue will dry clear. Messy fingers can just be wiped on the newspaper, and wiped clean with wipes after project is complete. 

7. When the children have finished gluing/sealing their art, slide the daVinci handout under completed fresco, staple it twice along the top in each corner, and have children write their name on the bottom of the paper, so name shows when stapled!

8. Children carry completed work out to a hall wall to dry (or somewhere directed by the teacher). It will likely be wet for up to 24 hours.  After that it’s up to teacher to send home. 

9. Clean up: get all unused materials back into box (frescos, pastels in baggies, plates, glue and spray bottle) and make sure to leave teacher’s stapler and wipes. Please make sure the room is how it was when you arrived!

Japanese Art, Fish Prints, Gabriel Homes 11-12

This project was used in the following grades:  Special Needs Adults 

Materials used:     plastic fish, black ink, paper, water color pencils

Basic description of process

Print fish with black ink.  Once they stamped the fish onto their paper they used water color pencils to color it in, then used lightly wet paint brushes to brush over the color and give it a water colored appearance.  That was the first time I had tried the water color pencils with my group and they worked out really well - we had much better success than we ever have had with paint.

Japanese Art, Kimono scratch art, Greenbriar West ES 09-10

This project was used in the grades:  K - 6

Materials used:     

White rainbow scratch paper and wooden scratchers

Cardstock kimono templates

Basic description of process: We had the docents discuss kimonos in Japanese Art - and included some sample pictures of modern kimonos found on the Internet.  The kids traced a kimono shape on the rainbow paper and used the wooden scratchers to make designs on the kimonos.  We encouraged the kids to sketch out a design beforehand because they would get only ONE piece of rainbow paper.

Other comments: This was our “splurge project”.  The rainbow paper was $27 for a package of 50 sheets from SAX Art.  The results were gorgeous.  Some teachers still have them up on the wall. 

One thing we’d do differently is to monitor the wooden scratchers better and not put them all out at the beginning of the month.  The classes at the end of the month had to use dull scratchers and they didn’t work as well. (Added note - you can sharper the scratchers using a pencil sharpener, just be careful they don't get too sharp)

Japanese Art, Carp, Vienna ES 10-11

This project was used in the following grades:  Kindergarten-3

Materials used:

12” x 15.5” Tyvek envelope—opened up along seam

Solo drinking cup—cut to use only the upper 1 inch

Crayola markers or crayons

Fish template (attached)

Fish face template (attached)

Glue and scissors

Stapler—1-2

Hand held hole punch

Basic description of process:

Pre-project prep:  Open up the tyvek envelopes along seam.  Cut off the bottoms of the solo cups so you only have the top 1 inch.  Do not cut through the circle as this opens up the mouth of the fish.  I farmed out these tasks to older kids needing service hours.  Make several fish shape templates.  Also see other comments section for additional optional prep work.

Trace 2 fish shapes onto each envelope.  Cut out shapes.  Glue the two pieces together on the top and bottom only, leaving the mouth and tail open.  Do not glue the sides of the mouth opening for 1 inch.  This is the part that you staple in the cup.

Have the kids color their fish.  There was a face template they could use if they wanted and we showed how to make scales with half circles.  The key here was to make sure they understood they had to repeat their design on the other side so not to get too involved in a complicated design on the first side.

Make sure they flip their fish horizontally when they are ready to color the other side or the fish will not “match” up.

Once colored, insert the solo cup into the mouth opening and fold the top inch into the cup.  Staple the cup to the envelope.  Punch two holes in opposite sides for a string.  Let glue dry completely.

This project takes a full 45 minutes and docents must watch the time to keep kids moving along  with the various steps.

Other comments:

The Japanese Koi or Carp fish represents perseverance, wisdom, love and friendship.  In Japan, families make and fly carp-shaped wind socks called koinobori.  These are flown throughout April until Tango no Sekku or Children's Day on May 5.

This project originally appeared in Family Fun Magazine. The project web address is http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/carp-wind-sock-675371/.  We modified it so it would be easier to do as a GRACE project.  The fish template is on the web site.  I free handed the face template.

We found that the younger kids had a hard time with the tracing and cutting.  So for each class, our docents traced the fish shape template onto the tyvek before the class.  For Kindergarten and first, we pre-assembled (glued) the fish so all they had to do was color.  We inserted the mouths after they had colored them.

These were displayed at our Multi-culture Night.

Japanese Art, Vellum Lanterns, Vienna ES 10-11

This project was used in the following grades: 4-6

Materials used:

9x12 white Vellum (Paper and More had packs of 100 for a reasonable price)

Multi-color Sharpies

Japanese drawings and images

Scotch tape

Basic description of process:

Kids were allowed to either draw their own picture or trace patterns from a pattern book onto vellum.  We first asked the kids to draw their original picture on a scrap piece of paper before tracing it with a sharpie since there was not enough vellum to correct mistakes. 

Lanterns could be round or square.  For square lanterns, the kids folded the vellum in half then in half again.  The one crease was then folded the opposite way to make a square.  Once the lanterns were done, they were taped at the seam and stood on end for display.

Amazingly, this project took a full 45 minutes.  The kids really got into the detail work of making these lanterns.

Other comments:

On summer evenings, many cities in Japan hold an event called Toro Nagashi (The Festival of Floating Lanterns).  The festival is related to Obon, a three-day period to honor the departed.  Participants inscribe messages and drawings on paper lanterns attached to a wood or bamboo base, lit by candles and set afloat on a lake or river.

We displayed these at our Multi-culture night with electric candles inside. 

Japanese Art, Shoji Screen, Flint Hill ES 12-13

The project for this month is Shoji Screens made with rice paper, craft sticks, glue, tempera paint, ink pad and rubber stamps. In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji (障子?) is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo.  

Hint:  Paint goes on the ROUGH matte finish side of the rice paper.  DO NOT USE PENCIL ON RICE PAPER. Paint and stamps only. 

Hint for Grades K­‐2:  Volunteers should pre-­glue the craft sticks and string onto front of 

rice paper at least a day before your class session and bring in already assembled. 

For  Higher Grades: 

1. Hand out scrap paper. Practice a design in pencil on scrap paper. Give handouts of Japanese writing and stamp signature designs to help them decide on a design. (This step could be for K-­‐2 as well) 
2. Hand out Manila Folders, Rice Paper, Craft Sticks, String, Plates of Glue, Q-tips  
3. Use folder to work on top of. Have students glue craft sticks on the front oftop and bottom sides of rice paper. Sandwich string between paper and craft stick at the top.
4. When students decide on a signature stamp they’d like to use, have them bring their rice paper on top of folder to stamp station. We found that rubbing the stamp on the stamp pad gives even ink coverage on the stamp 
5. Pump black tempera paint onto plates. Hand out brushes. Have groups of students share paint to do their black calligraphy drawing. 
6. Collect manila folders and put back on cart.  Let screens dry on corner of desk or a place in the classroom that the teacher designates 

These finished Shoji screens will be hung on the windows inside the cafeteria and outside in the hallway for Grace Art night in May. They are inspired by Japanese black ink paintings with a red signature stamp. Have children work out a design on scrap paper before they start if they’d like. Some Japanese paintings are considered poetry and some of the stamps and images can work together to create a poem. Original Japanese works like this were created on silk, where you could not erase the ink, and much thought was put into placement of the images on the silk canvas before the piece of art was started. We have two sets of stamps, one for each cart. There are 13 stamps in each set. Set up a stamp station and have kids bring up their shoji screen on the manila folder to the station. Finish by having students paint an image with black tempera paint. 

Chops make from erasers.