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TEACHERS.NET GAZETTE
Volume 3 Number 11

COVER STORY
A new museum dedicated to exploring the role of visual art in children's literature from around the world will open in Amherst, Massachusetts in November 2002...
REGULAR FEATURES
Apple Seeds: Inspirational quotes by Barb Erickson
Special Days This Month by Ron Victoria
Featured Schools
Classroom Photos by Members of the Teachers.Net Community
November Poem
The Inward Morning
The Lighter Side of Teaching
Handy Teacher Recipes
Classroom Crafts
Help Wanted - Teaching Jobs
Doggy, Doggy, Who Has Your Bone? and themed variations from the Lesson Bank
PRINTABLES
Turkey Glyph
Alphabet Book
Alphabet Chart
Upcoming Ed Conferences
Letters to the Editor
ON-SITE INSIGHTS
Art Projects as Learning Activities? &
What is running wonderful classroom teachers out the school doors so early?
November Columns
November Articles
November Informational Items
Gazette Home Delivery:

About Classroom Crafts...

If you have a craft project that would be of particular interest to fellow teachers, please consider sending it to editor@teachers.net.


Suggested Book


First Art : Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos
by MaryAnn F. Kohl, Renee F. Ramsey, Dana Bowman, Katheryn Davis

$10.47 from Amazon.com
More information

 


Classroom Crafts
by The Teachers.Net Community

Art Ideas

by MaryAnn F. Kohl

Foil Wrapping
from First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Two's, by MaryAnn Kohl, published by Gryphon House

Toddlers wrap silvery aluminum foil around cardboard shapes, pressing and pinching it to fit, discovering foil's unique gripping characteristics.

Materials

  • heavy duty aluminum foil
  • cardboard or wooden shapes, or small boxes

Prepare

  • Tear a stack of aluminum foil squares and fan them out on the worktable.
  • Arrange cardboard shapes or small boxes on the worktable.

Process

  • Encourage the toddlers to wrap foil around cardboard shapes, pressing and pinching it to fit.
  • They can cover and wrap the shape until satisfied.

Toddler Tip

  • Toddlers like to stack their finished foil pieces into tall towers, enjoying how they tumble down again.

Variations

  • Provide brightly colored tape for toddlers to join shapes together.
  • Encourage the toddlers to stick their shapes to a background to make a 3-D collage with loops of masking tape.

Fingerpaint Recipes
from First Art: Art for Toddlers and Two's, by Kohl, published by Gryphon House

Easiest Fingerpaint
Pour a puddle of liquid starch on the paper, and then squirt a tablespoon (15-30ml) or so of liquid tempera paint in the puddle. The toddler mixes the paint by hand on the paper while spreading the paint and fingerpainting.

Liquid Starch Fingerpaint
Premix 1/2 cup (120ml) liquid starch and 1/2 cup (120ml) tempera paint in a cup. Spoon onto paper.

Warm Cornstarch Fingerpaint
Dissolve 1 cup (240ml) cornstarch with 1/2 cup (120ml) cold water and set aside. Boil 3 cups (.72liter/720ml) water in a pan and remove from heat. Add cornstarch mixture to hot water, stirring constantly. Place pan back on heat and boil until clear and thick for about one minute. Add 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) food coloring. (Make sure cornstarch is dissolved before adding or it will be lumpy.) Paint with warm paint.

Creamy Soap Flake Fingerpaint
Pour 2 cups (480ml) warm water in a bowl. Start an electric mixer, then add 1 cup (240ml) soap flakes and beat until stiff. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) food coloring. (Make sure you use safe soap flakes like Deft or Ivory Snow and not laundry detergent. You can also grate a bar of Ivory Soap to make your own flakes.) Do not dump unused paint in the sink as it can clog the drain.)

Easy Clean Up Tempera Fingerpaint
Mix 1/4 cup (60ml) tempera paint with 1/8 cup (30ml) liquid soap.


Toilet Paper Play Day
Printed with permission from The Big Messy Art Book, by Kohl, published by Gryphon House.

Children love toilet paper! Wrapping each other with long streamers of toilet paper is great fun and makes for a play day sculpture that will not be forgotten.

Materials

  • rolls of toilet paper, one for each child
  • at least two artists

Process

  1. Begin by unwrapping or unrolling a roll of toilet paper a little ways. See how it works. Hint: Don't be surprised to see the roll of paper bouncing across the floor as it unravels.
  2. For the first play sculpture; one friend volunteers to be the sculpture model, and the other volunteers to be the artist. The artist wraps the sculpture model with toilet paper in anyway enjoyable to both. Make an entire "mummy", or try for other costumes or designs.
  3. When one sculpture is finished, trade places!
  4. Use leftover sculpture paper for making homemade paper, or for papier-mâché projects, or paper dough.

More Sculpture Ideas:

  • Make outfits for toy animals or dolls.
  • Make a huge pile of toilet paper to hide in.
  • Wrap furniture like the famous artist, Cristo.
  • Wrap objects in toilet paper to disguise them.
  • Stack rolls of toilet paper like blocks.
  • Cover a doorway with strips of toilet paper.
  • Create a spider web or maze with toilet paper in an entire room.
  • Use toilet paper to create a hiding house, cloud world, or other pretend area.

Variations

  • Paint with a roll of toilet paper.
  • Drip Liquid Watercolors, food coloring, or paper dyes on a roll of toilet paper.

Gingerbread Mix Dough
(summarized with permission from the book, Mudworks, by MaryAnn F. Kohl, Bright Ring Publishing)

easy, spicy modeling dough...can be mixed by hand, baked, and is delightfully edible.

Pour 1 package gingerbread mix into a large bowl.
Add 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup salad oil.
Mix with hands.
Remove from bowl and wrap with plastic, chill for 1 hour.
Mold little balls of dough into free form sculptures, or roll dough 1/4" thick and cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Bake on greased cookie sheet with room between for 12 minutes at 350F.
Then cool and remove from the sheet.

Extra:
Decorate with icing and candy, raisins, etc.
Before baking, poke a hole in the gingerbread with a toothpick or straw. Then bake. Tie a string, ribbon, or yarn through when cool.


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