Silk screen pillows & Graffiti cuffs

Silk screening with little kids is such a hoot. They are so reactionary, and it is always satisfying to see their faces. We had them all do their drawings a week earlier so I could take them home and carefully cut out their designs with and x-acto knife. All of the kids did a great job drawing their designs, though sometimes I think that once they see how it all works it finally makes sense for them. I had them each practice silk screening by pulling the squeegee back and forth to get a sense of how it feels and how much pressure they need to use. Then they each got to silk screen their own design onto their pillowcase. Once the the ink dried they stuffed their pillows, and we sewed up the opening. The children also got a chance to make graffiti cuffs. These are old leather belts we cut up, and used sharpie pens to make our markings on the cuff. We talked to the kids about graffiti and the difference between artistic graffiti and vandalism graffiti. I think it was a bit difficult for the kids to decipher between the two because we tend to generalize it. If you really look at some graffiti it can be really beautiful, but of course as most things there is a lot of yucky graffiti too. Lastly, the kids still coming off of the read-a-thon and getting a new book order many were very excited to read to the class. I can't say no to a child wanting to read. So at the end of class since we finished a bit early we let some of the children who wanted to read get their chance to sit and read to the class. It was really fun to watch.