Art Class #2a

For now on Mondays, I have two kids who come back the next day as well--so today I did a very simple "recycle themed" project, saving the main one for tomorrow.

If you're looking for something quick and easy, you can try this.

I cut the flaps off of some boxes that were discarded. Then, I drew the outline of the caterpillar and the chrysalis on the flaps.
I cut butterflies out of a thinner cardboard (I used a box that had contained popsicles; same as a cereal or cracker box). And then I found an old magazine and cut pieces out of it to use for decorating.

The picture was supposed to represent taking something old, and giving it "new life." (While I technically haven't gotten organized enough to actually separate my recycled goods and put them in the bins, I do use recyclable materials frequently for projects and things around my house.) The caption on the picture says "Recycle, ReLive."

I had the kids decorate the caterpillars and chrysalises, as well as the butterflies. We folded the wings up, and only glued the bodies of the butterflies to the flap. This gave the picture a tiny bit of dimension.

I had two boys today, and they were not entertained by this butterfly project for very long! They came up with adding string to hang the pictures from. They then got very excited about all my other materials, and began to make their own creations.
(I was hoping they would get a little more involved in decorating their butterfly murals more, but alas--their art is their own. ;) )

One of the boys wanted to use part of a produce storage carton to make eyes
for this cardboard man.
It's nice to give them some leeway to channel their own creative ideas and see what works and what doesn't. 

As I mentioned in my previous post about my "art classes," the theme of the entire course is "Exploring Different Textiles." I just ran across this article, and it amused me in reference to that theme. (I do not plan to share this as an example with the kids, though.) This article does actually have some health-relevant info that is categorized usefully.

You Can Pee a Rainbow: Click here to read article.