Japanese Kimono Collage

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Rina Vinetz

Japanese yukata. This cotton garment is worn in summer or during a visit to a traditional Japanese bath. Source: Akiodesigns.com

Formal furisode kimono. Source: http://web-japan.org

Third grade is doing a Japanese unit. In music class, they are working hard on their school play, a Japanese-themed ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ (featuring real Taiko drums). I found this great kimono collage lesson plan developed by Renee Collins at My Adventures in Positive Space. The project was extremely successful – 100% of students made beautiful collages.

My contribution to this fabulous project is a Japanese kimono powerpoint. We also looked at formal kimono on this website and Japanese clothing on this website.

Materials:

Patterned origami paper (like this variety pack )
Kimono templates (courtesy of Blue Moon Palette blog)
Pencils/erasers
Scissors
Glue sticks
Black construction paper for mounting, cut 6″x6″
Colored paper scraps

Here are the completed 3rd grade projects:

Princes and Princesses Rule over First Grade

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Rina Vinetz

Welcome to the royal art room! The first grade recently finished their royal self portraits.

First graders create a portrait of themselves as princes or princesses. Allow 3-4 40-minute classes.

Materials:

white paper, 12″x18″
pencils and erasers
self-portrait template (optional)
several shades of skin-colored tempera (thinned with water)
watercolors
Sharpies
crayons
sequins, ribbons and lace
glue

Day 1:

We started out by looking at photos of royal gear: crowns, swords, jewels, and medals. Students began by drawing the face, neck and torso. Then they added crowns and fine clothes. Most drew castles in the background – some even added their ‘royal’ pets!

Day 2:

The skin was painted with thinned tempera. We painted the rest with regular and metallic pan watercolors. Tiny details (such as eyes) were colored in with crayon.

Day 3:

The students outlined the dry art with Sharpies. ‘Jewels’ (sequins), ribbons and lace were glued on for a final touch.

Students outlined their (dry) paintings with Sharpies.

Sequins make fabulous jewels.

Scraps of ribbon and lace make royal clothing extra fancy.

And here are the fabulous results!

A royal knight.

Some students chose to draw themselves as knights. I wrote about it in this post.

This completed our royal unit for first grade. Other projects in this unit are the watercolor resist castle and the clay dragon.

This lesson was inspired by an Arts Attack video.

Kindergarten Stick Puppets

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Rina Vinetz

Kinders are making stick puppets. This is their first project using white (Elmer’s) glue, and the whole project is designed to teach gluing skills.

Students first practice opening and closing the (orange) tip of the glue bottle. They learn the bottle is closed when the hard white tip peeks up from the bottle. Then I pass out cardboard.

Day 1

Materials

White (Elmer’s) glue
Cardboard : 1 (3″x5″) and 4 (1″x5″) per child
Sharpie
Yarn
Scissors

Take large cardboard and one small cardboard. Put a dot off glue on a corner of the large cardboard, top with the small piece. Press hard to stick pieces together.

We use the ’10 second gluing’ technique. Students press the pieces hard against the table while counting aloud to 10 (is there anything cuter than a class of 5 year olds earnestly counting together?).

We test our gluing by waving the glued pieces in the air while counting to three. Result: 95% hold together. The one or two that come apart provide the opportunity for more glue practice.

We glue on all four cardboard ‘limbs’. Next students write their names on a Popsicle stick and glue it on for a handle. Kids will need to use 2-3 dots of glue and count to 20 to get that stick stuck on.

Add a bit of cut yarn for hair and draw on a face with sharpie.

Day 2:

Materials

Stick puppets
Glue sticks
Scissors
Colored patterned papers (origami, scrapbook or wallpaper) cut into 4″x6″ pieces

Cut out paper and glue on to make clothes for puppets. Instruct kids to apply glue stick to both papers they are stick together. This might sound like a waste of glue, but there is a much stronger bond. Don’t want any puppet wardrobe malfunctions!

Molas of Panama

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Rina Vinetz

The 4th grade studied fabulous, colorful molas. Molas are intricate, multi-layered textiles made by the Kuna Indians, of San Blas Island, Panama.

Panamanian Mola textile. Photo by galenfrysinger.com

Luckily we had a tour guide. Ms O’Brien came to the art room, talked to us about the Kuna and shared her extensive mola collection with us. We are so lucky to have Ms. O’Brien at our school!

This paper toucan mola looks like the one on Ms. O'Brien's shirt

Our resident mola expert! 1st grade teacher Sharon O'Brien lived in Panama for over 20 years.

Kids were fascinated! They loved turning the bright colored molas to the back and looking at the tiny stitches.

For the art project, we used the lesson plan found in the excellent book Dynamic Art Projects for Children by Denise M. Logan. This year I made (optional!) paper templates enlarged from the drawing aid page in the book. Kids focused on making intricate designs and colors. Art is finished with colorful paper strips glued down to simulate textile cut-outs.

This project was perfect for the 4th graders. Some used the templates, some didn’t. All the student art turned out vibrant and colorful. A highly successful art project. This is a popular art project for kids around the world! Click here to see paper molas from some talented Australian kids.