Recycled Castles

Hello third graders and resourceful artists everywhere.  Your next art project will be recycled castles.

As always, I encourage you to create using your own style, and other materials available to you.  No need to copy each part you see here, though I do hope it helps inspire some ideas for you.

First, choose your paper.  I used black, but any color would be fine.  I also set aside some TP rolls to create the towers and make them stick out.

Tin foil is what I chose to cover these with, because they reminded me of the gray of the castle.  You could also opt for painting it, or using cardboard, or even some sort of print.  If you have any magazines with architecture in them, you could cut some paper out with a brick or stone pattern.

For towers, cut up each side of the tube to cut it in half.  If you want a taller castle, turn your paper and us paper towel tubes.

I planned a little ahead before I glued anything down.  I wanted to be sure I had space for some grass or any other interesting details I would add later.

Here are some diagrams of parts of a real castle.  Think about materials you have that could be used for other parts?  Do you have any toothpicks you could use for a fence or a gate? Any tissue paper for a mote? 

Next thing I did was cover my towers with the foil....

No glue was needed for that part.  I then cut some extra for the middle part of my castle.

Cardboard worked for my door. Again, you could find a door in a magazine...or you could use something like popsicle sticks. 

Before gluing anything down, I cut some slits at the top of my towers.  I cut them about a pinky's width apart.  Every other tab got bent inward, like so, to create the castle battlements .

I cut out some windows...

Added in some flags.... and I used our Easter grass as my "grass".

Whether your castle is a traditional type like mine, a magical unicorn palace, or something completely out of your imagination, I can't wait to see what you come up with!  Have fun!

Salt dough Fossils

Hi kindergartners, scientists, and creative thinkers....today we will be making.....FOSSILS!!!

First to make the salt dough, you'll need:

1/4 cup flour

1/8 cup salt

1/8 cup water

Dump all those ingredients into a bowl...

in any order....

stir them up....

And squish into your hands until thoroughly mixed....

Take the ball of dough, and press it flat onto a table, using your palm of your hand...

Next, you can gather some supplies from around your house or outside, to push into your"fossil" ... remember these can resemble real fossils, if you use things from nature.  OR you could push things into your fossil that represent you and the things you enjoy (lego, your fingerprint, dice, etc.)

I went the "natural" route.  I sure wish I had my toy dinos here so I could stomp their little feet into my dough, but those are still at school.

You could also press into the dough with a pencil or play doh tool...

Boom! Fossil!  Now I'm going to let mine dry....  perhaps add some paint or marker to it once it is hard and dry.  I hope you had fun!  Stay tuned for more next week :)

Cardboard Cactus

Well second graders, if you're looking for a cute springy sculpture, I've got you covered!  Today AND next week we will be working on these super cool cardboard cactus sculptures.  This is a TWO WEEK project (two art days) because it takes a while for your pieces to dry and for them to be cut, as they are cardboard (a little trickier to cut than paper).

Don't worry...they're worth it!

Ok, There's more than one order in which you could make this, but I recommend starting by painting your cardboard green for the cactus, because that will give your paint some time to dry.

You'll need both sides to be green, but if you're using thin cereal cardboard, you could just paint the whole brown side of the box (inside parts) green, and then fold it in on itself so that you cannot see the cereal box part anymore...if that makes sense.

Next, you can start work on your flower pot, or come back later to cut out your cactus parts.  For the sake of this tutorial, lets move on to the flower pot.  I used the side of a cereal box, and I cut right up the seams, to get nice, straight cuts.

To make the top ridge of the flower pot, I cut another, more narrow strip, just as long as this one was...

Place those pieces together, overlapping them, like so...

This is what it looks like from the back...and then I taped along the edges, though you could also use glue and let it dry.

Once the two pieces are attached, wrap it around into a circle, and tape together the overlap (or glue, hold, and count til they stick).

Then you can add a design.  Use lines or simple shapes for a nice pattern all the way around. 

 I did some colorful patterns that reminded me of  Aztec pottery, like this...

When you've finished the pot, you can come back to the green cardboard that was set aside earlier for the cactus.  Remember, you don't have to do this all in one day.

For the first one, I cut an oval shape about as wide as my little flower pot, so that I could cut slits in the sides of the oval AND the pot, where they touch. This helps them stay together.  You'll be cutting slits for all your cardboard pieces, wherever you want them to attach.

Cut a nice slit, about an inch long or a little longer, for where you'll rest your next oval.

Cut your next oval a little smaller than the first.  You'll need to cut a slit into that one, and piece the two cuts together...wedge them together so they stick on their own (we'll add some glue later, too).

Continue doing this until it looks how you want it.  Here's an example of the prickly pear cactus we are replicating.  See how it grows from the bottom up, just like we are building it?

You can design it however you think it looks cool, but I tried to balance mine a bit, so it would not topple over to one side.

If it's all assembled, add a dab of glue wherever the pieces are touching, and then add some little "V's" for your pickers.  If you want to get really fancy, you could even add some toothpicks.

Feel free to try some other kinds of cactus plants too!  They are cute and fun, and all we really need is some recycled boxes and something to color with.  Hope to see you and your creations soon!

Egg Carton Flowers

Hi first graders and lovers of spring time....this is a perfect way to celebrate our earth, both by recycling (UPcycling, really) and by creating something bright, beautiful, and growing....FLOWERS! 

This will be a TWO week art lesson (2 art days, as we have art one day a week, during our normal school schedule).  The reason for this is mainly dry time it takes in between steps, as well as the fact that you'll be cutting a fair amount of cardboard, which takes time and effort.  If you are someone who works fast, I encourage you to make more than one flower, or even to experiment with other types of flowers, other than the kind I have here.🌹

Now let's get down to business... for this lesson, you'll need:
     scissors
     glue or tape
     paint or markers
     egg carton
     cardboard (optional)
     paper

The first thing we will do for this lesson is to cut apart your egg carton.  Start by cutting off the top.

Next, the little flap that holds your carton closed.

Then cut the carton (if your carton holds a dozen eggs) into three sections....little math for you here... you should have four eggs spaces in each section.

 A little science for you here...make sure you are cutting with the fulcrum of your scissors, when cutting cardboard, because you won't have to work as hard to get through that thick material!

When you're finished, it will be quite square looking, so I went and cut some little "V" shapes out of my carton, to make the "petals" a bit rounder.

If you've got a carton with a very tall separation between the egg spaces, cut that down a bit....

Next, to make the middle, I used some thin cardboard from a cereal box.  You could use paper, yarn, a little puffball, a button, a cottonball....so many different options...just be creative!

Paint (if you have some) or color with markers/crayons....   I chose to make some "seeds" in the middle, but it's up to you, as the artist.  You could paint it solid, or make a design, if you like.

I moved onto the stem, to let my center dry.  I happened to have some painted paper lying around that worked well for my stem.  If you don't have that, you could:

A. paint or color some paper

B. use construction paper

C. use a big straw

If you're using paper, cut a loooooong strip of it, about 2 or 3 inches wide.

Use a pencil to help you roll it into a long, skinny tube, for your stem.

 Tape or glue.  If you're using glue, you'll have to hold it still and count (like we learned in art class).  Or you could use hot glue, if you have some.

Next, I painted my egg carton petals, both front and back.  Again, design/paint however you like...could be a rainbow stripe or polka dot flower.

When it dries, you can glue your stem into the grooves of your carton, hold, and count, or apply pressure to keep your stem stuck.

Add leaves, if you want...you could even make a little flower pot, if you've got some extra time and materials!

And, boom!!  A beautiful flower, from "garbage".  Now that's what I call being resourceful.  I hope you had fun making your beautiful flowers.  I look forward to hearing from you soon!