Clay Medallions

This project can be completed with either firing clay or air dry clay. It's a fun and simple project using texture, but could lend itself to many content goals. For example, as designs and imagery are an important part of many cultures, this project could be integrated with a social studies unit (i.e. Aztec designs). You could also focus on patterns for younger children or radial symmetry for older students. Children could study ancient coins or make their own during an economics unit... Many options here, but the basic design principles are the same.

I used Sculpt-it air dry clay as we created our medallions the day the kiln was firing. Next time I do this project, however, I'll try it with firing clay as glazing effects would be beautiful and suitable for outdoor display. This would be a nice school garden installation or community building project as well.

1. Roll clay into a golf-ball sized piece.
2. Flatten into a "cookie."
3. Add texture to your liking.
(I used texture tools we found on nature walks as ours was part of a natural world exploration.)
4. Make holes in the top and bottom of each medallion. (Note that the bottom medallion would only need one hole.)
5. Let dry or fire.

6. To finish, we painted these with  metallic acrylics. I watered down the paint in order to give it a more antique look.
7. I cut lengths of aluminum wire for children to link their medallions together because it's very pliable and easy for small hands to work with, though any wire or large jump rings would work.

Little Chalkboards

We recently did a project with SMart (Sustainable Materials Art), an organization in Boulder dedicated to sustainability through art. After entering their BOLD DOORS competition and juried art show, we led a children's art activity at their booth during Open Arts Fest last weekend.

We had a lot of fun leading kids through creating small chalkboards, and everyone loved the project. This is a simple way to reuse or up-cycle old wood with some new materials to create a fun and functional piece.

You'll need:

Plywood or other scrap wood, cut into 5x7" rectangles
Sandpaper
Screw eyes
Wire
Beads
5x5" pieces of fabric
Cotton balls
Twine or string
Chalkboard paint

I pre-sanded the edges of the cut wood, and then drilled two small pilot holes in the top where the screw eyes would go. Depending on the age of your kids, they might be able to complete these steps themselves (pilot holes are not necessary, they just make screwing easier).

Kids sand the surface and edges of the wood, and then wipe it clean with a damp cloth. Next they paint one side with chalkboard paint. The piece will dry in the sun in a few minutes. Meanwhile, they can add beads to a length of wire for the hanger and choose a piece of fabric for their eraser. Place 4 cotton balls in the center of the fabric and use twine to bunch together the fabric and tie for an eraser. Once the chalkboard is dry, screw the eye hooks in the pilot holes and add the wire hanger.

I like to tie the string of the eraser onto one of the eye hooks so that it's easier to keep track of (just make the string long enough to reach across the whole board.) You can also wrap a piece of chalk in the wire hanger which makes a nice holder for it.

Cut plywood with pilot holes drilled and rough edges pre-sanded

Torn Paper Landscape Sunsets

Kids love this fun project which involves tearing paper, learning about warm and cool colors, and the elements of a landscape.

We started with a discussion about the difference between a landscape and a portrait, then discussed warm (red, yellow, orange) and cool (blue, green, purple) colors. Children use cool colors for their torn paper foreground, middle mountains, and far mountains; they then use warm colors for their watercolor sunset.

We started with the watercolor background on watercolor paper so that it has time to dry while working on the torn paper foreground and mountains. Using a watercolor wash technique (explained in this post about watercolor techniques) and sweeping horizontal strokes with the paintbrush, children make lines of warm colors covering their entire paper.

Starting with precut rectangles at differing heights helps children achieve successful tearing of the paper foreground and mountains. After ripping the tops of the rectangles off in triangles, children stack their paper in order to visualize the way their foreground, middle, and far mountains will line up. When satisfied, glue the pieces onto the warm colored background. Lastly, rip a piece of orange paper into a circle shape and tuck behind the paper mountains for the sunset sky.

Though this photo doesn't show it, children can use a permanent maker to add small flying birds in the sky for a finishing touch.

Watercolor Techniques

There are several simple watercolor techniques that create wonderful affects and are a lot of fun... Here's a few of them!

Crumple paper, then watercolor on top

Watercolor Wash: wet entire paper with paintbrush and then paint with watercolor. You can also try "dropping in" by letting the paint drip off a very wet brush.

Watercolor first and then sprinkle salt on top. (This could be combined with a watercolor wash for a neat effect.)

Resist techniques:

Draw with oil pastels or crayon and paint watercolor over the top

Put rubber cement down and then water color on top

Air-Dry Clay: 2 Projects

If you decided to explore using air-dry clay, here are a couple of ideas for using Sculpt-It and Model Magic. (Referred to in this post).

Creative Creatures, Dr. Seuss Inspired Birds:

Using Sculpt-it, children can create their own funky bird. We made these in conjunction with Dr. Seuss's birthday and a Dr. Seuss classroom study with Kindergarten students. Reading a Dr. Seuss book and discussing his wacky characters provides a great intro to this project. We also looked at the book, The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss which is a great resource for this lesson.

Helping children portion their clay can be key to this project depending on the age of the kids. I gave them a large piece and had them split it in half. They then took one half and split it in half again. Now they have one large and two medium pieces. They take one of the medium pieces and split it in half one more time for a total of one large, one medium, and two small pieces. Each are then rolled into balls. The large piece becomes the body, the medium piece is the head, and the two small pieces (flattened) are the feet. Using precut skinny dowels, children connect all the pieces (a dot of glue in each hole where the dowels connects helps to really secure the bird). I then give one more small piece of clay which they form into a beak and attach with a tiny "sip" of water on their finger. I then help the children mount their bird onto a piece of foam board with a glue gun (a supporting stick is placed in the back of the bird and wedged into the foam board). Children then add feathers--wings, head, and tail. The following day, they can paint the beak yellow, and eyes and feet black.

Some dried moss around the feet adds a nice finishing touch to this project.

Model Magic Insects:

This would be a quick and fun project during an insect study. After discussing ants specifically, we each built our own--with a head, thorax, and abdomen. During this guided lesson on how to use Model Magic (teaching children how to roll balls, press the clay together, insert legs and antennae--a dot of glue helps at the point of insertion in the clay) children really got the hang of the material. I then opened it up for children to make their own "insect" creations. Offering a variety of colors, children had lots of fun problem solving how their insects would stand up, what their habitat would be, what they'd eat, and of course what they'd look like.

google eyes finish off this simple insect project

All About Clay

As the most accessible medium for children to work within the 3rd dimension, clay is not something to be missed. From an early age, children are drawn to squishing, squeezing, and playing with clay. Young children enjoy the purely tactile experience, while older children get to see their creation come alive in sculptural form.

There are many considerations when deciding on what type of clay to provide for your young artist to explore. First, you'll need to decide if you want hardening or non-hardening clay. Hardening clay comes in two forms--earthenware or stoneware that you fire in the kiln, or air dry or oven bake clay that does not require firing.

If you want hardening clay but don't have access to a kiln, the next best thing is Sculpt-It. (For simplicity's sake, I generally stay away from clay that you have to bake in the oven.) Sculpt-It air dries within about half an hour but will fully harden overnight. In order to attach two pieces together, simply rub a touch of water on the area and press together for a secure bond. Sculpt-It comes in colors, but I prefer white which children can easily paint once dry. The other option that is great for air-dry clay is Model Magic. It looks wonderful in colors, and attaches by simply pressing together. It does dry, but is never totally hard (unlike Sculpt-it). I use Model Magic for the vibrant colors and when I don't have time or want the kids to have to paint on a different day.

As far as non-hardening (modeling) clay goes, there are several options. Young children seem to love non-hardening clay, especially when combined with some great texture tools like textured rollers or a garlic press. They can push and play to their hearts' content and the clay never cracks or dries out (which can be frustrating for younger children). I've tried several kinds and brands of modeling clay, though certainly not all of them. My favorite is EZ Shape (by Sculpey). I like it because it's wax based which makes it very pliable even at cooler room temperatures. Children can get easily frustrated when modeling clay is too hard for them to work with (which often happens with modeling clays), and the wax based EZ Shape is always just the right amount of squishy. 

Welcome to Tinker Around

Welcome to Tinker Around, Tinker Art Studio's blog. We opened Tinker in beautiful north Boulder six months ago and it has been one of the biggest adventures of our lives. We've enjoyed getting settled into the neighborhood, meeting lots of neighbors and families, and creating authentic artistic opportunities for children within our doors. With our background, experience, and knowledge about arts education, materials, and projects, we want to share some of our best pieces with parents and teachers to help spark ideas and enhance your children's lives through the arts. You'll find a variety of art projects here and general inspiration to take your children's creativity to the next level. Utilizing the arts as a vehicle we can help children grow both educationally and creatively. We're very excited to share with you and hope you'll enjoy!

We always appreciate hearing from you, so please leave a comment if you have any questions or further information to share.

Warmly,

Christie & Lisa