Superstar Day Three

Our last day of our Superstar week today, and it was a whirlwind of projects to accomplish in 4 hours. We worked on our drawing skills, painted landing pads, made paratroopers, confetti rockets, and decorated cookies. I am also including the finished comic book in today's post as well. Whew!

We finished up today in drawing with working more on creating patterns interlacing lines, and just introduced the children to using reflection or mirror drawings to create an object. I really love this part of class, and could certainly do more of it with the children. They really seem to get into the drawings and some even preferred to draw instead of play during free time. Here are a few of the drawing examples from today:

Including in today's post as I mentioned above are the comic strips the kids drew. This was a fun project, and something different than what we normally do. It was fun to add a bit of literary fun into the mix. The kids seem to love to draw, and the opportunity for the boys to draw some monsters and super heroes was to good to pass up. It's our first issue ever, and something that I think we might come back to again sometime. Each child got to take home a compilation of all of the comic strips from all of the other kids in their very own comic book. We discussed with them how in comics the individual pictures are called cells, and there are typically at least two characters in a comic that interact/communicate, and that the stories stay pretty simple. Here are some examples from our comic book issue no.1:

Paratroopers were also on the menu. We had the kids draw their own paratrooper with fabric markers on a plain muslin that we pre-cut. They then were able to pick the backing fabric and using a pattern piece trace and cut the backing piece of fabric. We then took them to the sewing machine and assisted them in sewing the paratrooper together. Then they filled it with stuffing, we sewed the bottom shut, and threaded the parachutes on. They also painted their landing pad with a target. They climbed up on our playhouse/loft outside and let 'em fly. They seemed to do much better when there was a slight wind. Here's photos from our landing pads, and paratroopers. They turned out beautifully.

On to one of my favorite projects....the confetti rockets! I really love these, and I would love to make them somehow create a popping noise. The kids were really excited to create these. Using toilet paper tubes, a couple pony beads, construction paper, tape, ribbon, stapler, string, and confetti these are gonna be fun in a couple days. Messy, but fun. My one concern for the rockets is that the kids really packed them with confetti, and I think that it might not fall out when they pull the release string. We certainly reinforced not packing it in, but if I were a kid I would also think more is better. Hopefully they will work o.k.

Lastly, are our star cookies that the children decorated as their send off. It wasn't hard to get them interested in this project at all. They were licking, spreading, and sprinkling with smiles. I baked the cookies and made the icing for the children, and if I don't say so myself the icing was pretty yummy. Anyway Happy Fourth of July everyone!!!

Superstar Day Two

Day two of our Superstar week brought us Comic book strips, silk screened t-shirts, and super powered wrist chains, and pendants. Working more today with the children on their drawing skills, we touched base on the different drawing families again, and started combination patterning. We provide children with some how-to's that they are welcome to use, and some love to use them. Some believe that copying isn't the way to learn how to draw, and I have observed that I think that it can certainly help. Observing children draw I have noticed those with confidence and without. It seems that those that don't have confidence in their drawings skills have more difficulty coming up with ideas of things to draw. It is those children that when you tell them or give them something to draw they seem to enjoy it much more. It isn't that they can't they are just concerned that they won't do a good job drawing it. When they do draw they are able to do it just fine, and need more affirmations. Those that are confident with there drawing skills are always a joy, because they aren't afraid to attempt anything. I like to think that practice makes perfect. I myself would categorize myself with the less confident drawing team. I believe I can draw, but I certainly feel more confident when I have an object to draw as opposed to making it up on the fly. Both are equally as good, but it does take practice. The more I practice the confident I become and the easier it comes to me. My bit of advice with drawing is always have paper or a sketchbook available for your child to draw on, and be as encouraging as you can, but not forceful. Make the drawing space comfortable, and ask them questions about what they have drawn. Children seem to love talking about their drawings. If possible give them objects to draw and point out simple shapes if they seem to have trouble. Here's a few more examples from today drawing class.

Our next project is an extension from Tuesday. Tuesday the children drew their super hero t-shirts designs. We did a two color screen print with the kids. It was our first time attempting two colors, which also meant two screens. What we do are have the children draw out the designs, and then we cut the screen for them. They got to pick where the colors were placed, and silk screen each color. We assist them, but more and more we are letting them do the pulling of the squeegee. I give them tips to give more pressure, and to listen for certain sounds that let them know if they are doing it correctly. For the most part they all did a fantastic job. Below, you will see some of the wonderful t-shirts that the children did.

The final project for the day was our Super Power wrist chains, and the pendants. We made the bracelets, and then let the kids pick the tags, and put stars, and other puffy stickers on them to create the bracelet. The pendants were done the same way except we laced them onto cording. We thought since all supers have some sort of jewelry that helps them be it a ring or necklace, we thought that our children were no exception. They really enjoyed putting these together.

Craft Kitchen Summer session week 1 Superstar

So our first week has begun, and the day was fantastic. We decided to work some more art into the routine, so this week is drawing week. The kids spend part of the day with instructed and free drawing time. Judging by everyone's focus they had a great time. It was so much fun seeing all of the kids drawing and being creative. Today we discussed the different types of lines, and using pressure to adjust the intensity of the line. We also talked about finding the shapes in objects to make it easier to draw. I made each student a hand stitched pamphlet type sketchbook. I want to share some of the wonderful drawings that the kids drew. The kids ages range from 4-7 yrs. old.

The children also worked on paper figurines that they collaged together, and they were very creative and inspiring. We started with a poster board template of a girl and a boy. Then they each found hands, feet, and clothing from printed ephemera, and magazines. Here's a few examples of those:

Lastly today we made patriotic lollipops. These are so easy, and super fun. All you need are a couple jolly ranchers, and a lollipop stick. I placed them in an oven at about 250-275 degrees on a silpat for about 6 minutes. As soon as they flatten out you take them out and put the stick in while they are still warm and gooey. Let them cool and then either enjoy or wrap up in wax paper or candy wrapper for later.

Summer Session 2010 Sneak Preview

Here are some photos of projects scheduled for our summer session. These are all projects we have done as samples for the kids. These will all be done during different weeks, and have been super fun to do.

Our leaf lantern jar that has a tealight candle inside.

Our super paratrooper. We named this one Bette. It actually works pretty well. If there is a little breeze it works even better.

This is one of my favorites. Our confetti rocket. I think it will be a hit with the kids, though it makes a terrible mess, and a little difficult to put together. I have faith in our kids will have no trouble with our assistance.

The bean bag toss game. The kids will each make three bean bags, but will have to round up their own buckets at home. We'll do a fun game with these after everyone is finished.

Our thoughtful froggie. This sweet, little guy is filled with buckwheat hulls, and multi-positioning. My girls can't seem to get enough of this amphibian. Can't wait to see all of the children's versions.

New Mirrors for Girls Room

Finally, some new stuff to post! We have been taking a hiatus getting prepared for our summer classes with the kiddos. We are very excited and will be taking photos of the projects.

Here is something I did the other night for my daughters room. I got these sunflower mirrors from my mother-in-law, and thought they were cute, but the colors don't go with their room. We recently repainted their room, and changed it around a bit, so I am trying to stick to the color scheme so it doesn't get quite so randomly put together like it previously was. We got rid of the pepto pink, and painted it a new soft green color. Here are the photos of what I ended up doing.