Art & Literature “This is the House That Jack Built” by Simms Taback

SO we took a bit of a blog break....but the Bag Ladies are back and we have SO much to share! 

I wanted to start with the last project our second graders did before the summer break...

“This is the House That Jack Built” by Simms Taback is one of my favorite children’s book.  I read it with my own kids often and have always admired the artwork.

Children also love the artwork in it and the repetition and rhythm of the story. 

I came up with this project for my own children and the results were so fun I decided to use it at school.  I changed a few things from the original pieces I did with my children (they are much younger then 2nd graders).  I wish I could have gotten better pictures of the display at school, but the lighting in that hall makes for bad pictures.  I think you will get the gist from the shots I did get!

First I read the students the book.  They loved it and we read it again.  Then we talked about the illustrations.  The students talked about the colors and shapes.  How the house looked and so on. I asked the kids to think of what kind of rooms and what type of things would happen in the house that they are creating.

Next up cutting the shapes for their own houses.  No details like the type of siding, shutters or landscape were to be cut out of the paper. Just the “structure” of the house. The students were not allowed to glue until they cut and placed all the piece of their house and had the teacher’s ok.  

A few students may have had cotton in their ears and didn’t hear me repeat this direction ten times. We had a few melt downs because pieces were glued and could not be moved...But Mrs. Bag Lady and the kids made it all work out ;)

Once the construction paper was cut, placed and glued the students added all kinds of details with pastels.  The students loved doing this and often came to look at the book for ideas and shared ideas with each other.

 I LOVE listening to children’s creative stories and ideas, if only we all could wander so easily through the garden of creativity and ideas that grow like wild flowers in the mind of a child.

Last the students created their own page of  “This is the House _______ Built” and wrote something about their house.  We did this using pastels and paper scraps.  It was too much fun reading their sentences about the house they had built.

This was a very successful project and I look forward to doing it next year!

See you SOON and Wishing you an Artsy Fartsy Day!

~Bag Lady Rebecca

Humpty Wobblers!

Looking for something to do with all those plastic eggs?  If you are anything like me you may still have a few plastic eggs rolling around the house.  PERFECT! Make them into Weeble Wobble Eggs! They wobble around but don't fall down! You can push them and watch them dance around the table! They are fun to make and fun to play with! If you are anything like my husband you put the eggs away the day after the egg hunt, in that case you will need to dig them out!

I have done this project with children of all ages and every age loves it.  Last weekend I did it with my 3 and 4 year olds and they loved it to! Here is what we used:

Plastic Eggs

Tissue Paper

Mod Podge

Modeling Clay

Glue

Scissors 

Paint brush

Google Eyes

Glitter Glue

Yarn or Feathers

Both my kids did fine with the supplies we used but I thought colored masking tape would work well too. You could rip small pieces of the tape and overlap them on the eggs instead of the tissue paper. Give it a try and let me know!

Put a small amount of modeling clay into the bottom of the egg. You have to play with the amount and see what works best for the size of your egg. Just snap the cover on and see if your egg wobbles around.

Once you have the right amount of clay in your egg glue the egg shut. You may not need to do this step, but I wanted to make sure the Wobbly Humpty creatures stayed in one piece!

Next, Mod Podge the tissue paper on. I had the kids paint a big section of the egg with the Mod Podge then stick tissue on and paint more Mod Podge over. My 3 year old had a little bit of a hard time doing his. This is when I thought of trying colored tape.

Then, pick the "tissue glue fun" off your fingers.

Smash and mold the tissue glue fun that was on your fingers.

Oh, don't forget to pick!

For these little Humpty Wobblers we used cut up feathers for the hair, I have also used yarn and felt.

Google Eyes!

Glitter Glue for a mouth.  You could use paint, yarn anything!

Set the cute little Humpty Wobblers on cut toilet paper rolls to dry.   At this point, if you are the child making them with your mom, run away and leave a huge mess on the kitchen table.  Ignore all pleas form your mom to come help.

Actually having the kids run out worked out good for me.  I was able to put the eggs out of sight.  The kids wanted to play with them but they were too wet to be played with. Had the kids stayed I most likely would have lost the battle and they would have played with their wet Humpty Wobblers, ruining them.  Then I would have been wiping eyes and consoling little hearts. When I pulled the eggs out the next day both the kids were so excited to see them and play!!

Here are the final results! The last picture is examples from an after school class ( 2nd and 4th graders) that I did at the ArtHouse.

 I don't have a picture of my son's blue Humpty Wobbler that he made.  I am currently looking under beds and couches for it.

I hope you have as good of a time making these as we did!

Wishing You an Artsy Fartsy Day!!

~Bag Lady Rebecca

3rd Grade Musicians!

"Collage Musicians" by the amazingly talented 3rd Grade!!

Recently the 3rd Graders learned about Pablo Picasso.  

We looked at all kinds of Picasso's styles of artwork and had some great discussions.  One of my favorite things is looking and talking about art with kids.  I learn so much and see artwork in a new light each time.  

Then we focused on "Three Musicians"  by Picasso.  We talked about music and musical instruments.  How music makes us feel and move. Again another great discussion!

Each table was given collage supplies, scissors and glue and the results were fantastic and fun! Have a peek!

Wishing you an Artsy Fartsy Day!

~Bag Lady Rebecca

Kinder Collage

This collage is a fun creative learning experience for the youngest artist we have at school. 

 The lesson came from a project I did at home with my children and sweet little niece.  I happen to have lots of odds and ends, random art supplies, left overs from art lessons, scraps of paper and yarn etc. (Can you imagine an art teacher having and keeping this stuff! My husband calls me a hoarder, I guess I am, but eventually everything gets used.) Well the projects my kids made are still up on the walls at home, they are beautiful and now our school is able to enjoy the collages on it's walls.

It just so happens we keep every single scrap and left over at school as well.  (Sigh, I must admit the scrap paper bin overwhelms me at times, but I tell it daily that it will not conquer? me, I will conquer it....in time....in time) Back on track....

Vocabulary word for the KinderArtist "COLLAGE".  

The students are taught about line, how it can create movement, curl, swirl, bend and twist.  Oil pastels are used for this.  

We talk about color and color mixing.  We like to use the Crayola Watercolor Mixing Set with the younger students.  The colors mix well and the paint is vibrant and beautiful results are almost a guarantee.  The paint is applied directly over the oil pastels.  The kids think this is like magic.  Then tissue paper is used to create even more new colors.  We talk about how applying the tissue paper on top of the paint changes the color.  When adding the tissue I stress using just a small amount of glue "Just a dot and NOT a lot!" is our mantra. 

For the yarn I have them make a curved or straight line with the glue and then place the yarn on top.  I give them a popsicle stick to tap the yarn down to stick. This avoids gluey fingers for the yarn to stick to!  Again we talk about how the yarn scraps can also mimic the different kinds of line ie: straight and curved.

This is one of those projects that you love to watch the children make.  The creative spirit that takes over the room. The discoveries they make and the excitement it causes.  How free their work is and how beautifully artistic each child is.  

Wishing you an Artsy Fartsy Weekend!

~Bag Ladies