This week the older kids glazed their bisqueware. I was worried about getting the glaze out of our brushes, and it did pretty well, but I sure wish we could have separate brushes for something like that. I hope to pick up the finished pieces Monday, and I am just as anxious to see how my little birds for the teachers turn out as I am to see the kids’ pieces. I could NEVER have gotten all the glazing prepped for both classes, with only the 10 minute transition, without my parent volunteer Deb. Not in a million years. I was also surprised at the timidity of the 3-4th graders in regards to their glaze choice. I thought lots of kids would want to see the fancier glaze with the special effects, but about half chose solid brown for their owls. Well, I’m just glad I decided last minute to offer a solid! I am also grateful I chose the colors I did for the face mugs, as I didn’t realize one of the students did a Bob the tomato (had red for lips) and one did a Homer Simpson (orange for owl eyes and beaks). When you have to pick colors carefully on a budget, these little mercies are worth celebrating!
Most of the Holy Family silhouttes turned out pretty well. Silhouettes have the risk of looking blobby with paint, and a couple did, but most of the kids had recognizable figures. Was I ever relieved! I need to add my model of the project here, but I left mine at school. Maybe Monday. I am still wrestling with how to adapt it to the third and fourth grade. I want a sort of mobile with similar effects. I’ll spend Sunday playing with it.
model for holy family silhouette
My favorite BY FAR were the kindergarten cardinals! ( My model is here). Unfortunately, that was definitely a 40 minute lesson in a 30 minute class. While the goal was to use curved and straight lines to create a cardinal in a guided drawing, kinders need a LOT of direction, and often individual feedback. It was so worth the time, though! In the end, all but two were able to follow directions well enough to craft a recognizable cardinal, and even got excited as they began to see it come together coloring it in with their oil pastels. The next day was so packed with school activities the kinders’ teacher was kind enough to carve another 15 minutes out of it so we could finish before the holidays. (so much of the schedule was already disrupted for them) This final step was the magic of resist, coloring white snowflakes on white paper, then watercoloring blue over. I just loving being magic. 😉 I am so proud of them!
Pamela UnPlugged: the Art of Life 