I am co-teaching my son's class in a book writing/illustrating project. I'd like to have the kids take on a little more than they are used to by introducing paper illustration...creating paper w/salt and paint, marbleizing technique, bubble wrap, etc. I have a friend who taught this at her school and said all kids including kindergartners participated.

The teacher I work with wants the kids to draw because she think that is what 2nd graders are capable of doing. I disagree but am willing to compromise.

Do any of you ladies have any art suggestions that will broaden their horizons without frustrating them or making things too complicated and is a little bit more than drawing?

Thanks.

By Trina~moderator on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 05:53 pm:

Ug. Drawing gets so old and boring for them. My DS (Gr. 2) is good at drawing for his age, but has no desire any longer because they do it ALL the time! I like your ideas. Is this for book covers or for illustrations or both??

I've done paper making for book covers with K-3 in the past. With water, screens, paper pulp, misc. scraps (paper, fabric, dried petals, etc.). It was very messy but fun. We did it outside towards the end of the year when it was warm. I wouldn't want to tackle that now in CT. LOL!

Hmmm, brainstorming here...
- Rubbings with crayon, pencil, chalk using misc. textured type items.
- Tearing paper to shape forms and figures instead of drawing. Hard to explain. Do you KWIM?
- With different colors - color pressing hard on oak tag. Cover the entire sheet. Paint over with black paint. Wait to dry. Scratch pictures into the dried, black paint.
- Sponge painting
- Oh, I forget what it's called. I had kids carve pictures into styrofoam trays. Then we rolled them with ink rollers and pressed them onto paper.

Sorry this is choppy and doesn't make sense. I'm in the midst of preparing dinner and trying to do this at the same time. LOL!

I'll think and post back if any other ideas pop up.

By Mommyathome on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 06:53 pm:

The last time I helped in DD's kindergarten class, we did vegetable painting. It was great fun. There were carrots, which kind of acted as a pencil (you could draw shapes, write things etc.). Then there were bell peppers that were cut in half and cleaned out. We made wreaths on a large piece of paper. The bell peppers were dipped in green and then stamped in a circle pattern. The carrots were used to make dots for berries and draw the bow. They turned out really nice.

I remember when I was in school we did "potatoe stamps". The potatoes were precut into shapes (leaving plenty of potatoe to hold in hand) and then we dipped and stamped.

By Robin on Saturday, January 17, 2004 - 05:25 pm:

Thanks, ladies! Trina, this is for both the outside of the book and the inside. My sister is an OT and she told me about the ripping of paper but I don't know what KWIM is lol! The family fun magazine had the stryofoam idea. You simply cut your design into florists foam, put on your paint then stamp. This may be another idea. I also like your oak tag idea but I am really clueless as to what you are talking about..could you fill me in?

Mommyathome...I like your idea but I think I need something more involved for this group. I may try your ideas at home with the kids on a rainy day, though. Thank you for your suggestion.

Anyone else out there, please feel free to jump in!

By Mommyathome on Saturday, January 17, 2004 - 06:10 pm:

Robin, KWIM is *know what I mean*

By Yjja123 on Saturday, January 17, 2004 - 06:21 pm:

Family Crafts Picture Books:
Materials Needed:
Paper
Stapler
Magazines
Glue
Instructions:
This project can be as hard or as simple as you want it! The idea is to create your own picture book. First, write a simple story. Once your story is done, page through magazines and find pictures that will go with your story. Glue the pictures on different pieces of paper and write the parts of your story under the pictures on each page. When you glue on your pictures, make sure you leave plenty of room to write! You can also start by cutting out the pictures first. This will be especially helpful if you don't know what to write about! You can make up the story as you go along. Once all the glue has dried, you can put the pages of the book in the proper order and staple it together. Don't forget to make a cover and even a credits page! The possibilities are endless with this craft idea! You could even make your own magazines and newspapers this way.

--------------------------

Another idea from Jennifer Schoch (Family Crafts)

I make sure they use regular sized sheets of paper. Then, I have a roll of brown paper and I cut it to form a cover for a 'book'. They decorate the outside cover then we add the 'ART WORK' inside by punching holes and tieing with ribbon, yarn, twine, or what ever you have.

On the last one we did, I wrote on the back, like a Hallmark card, 'Schoch's Art Day Camp Aug. 2002'. That makes a nice keepsake and the parents see what the child did that day. They loved it!

One of the pages I usually do is prints of hands or feet. I did one once with a topic of cats and used clip art/stickers of cats, colored cats, and also made a cat from a handprint! It was cool and we left a page to add a photo of the child's cat!"

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, January 17, 2004 - 06:23 pm:

Robin, see your other post.

This is a pic of what I was trying to describe above. Scratch Paper...

By Robin on Saturday, January 17, 2004 - 09:18 pm:

Thank you Trina, thank you Mommy for clearing up KWIM and thank you Yjja for your ideas. I do really, really like your ideas Yjja, but this is work that the kids are hoping to have published (yes through a real publishing house) and all work must be original. I think I can use your ideas with my own two kids at home...thank you.