This week’s Pegboard project covered a variety of mediums, techniques and skills. First we drew with markers, oil pastel and chalk pastel. We practiced line and shapes regardless of the holes from the pegboard. I decided this time around to gesso the boards so we wouldn’t be coloring on brown. Gesso creates a tooth for paint and also a texture to draw upon. The easiest medium to use on the gessod pegboard was the chalk pastel.
Several students were excited to push the pipe cleaner through the pegboard and just needed a little support to see the holes and keep the board steady.
Beading is amazing for fine motor skill and hand/eye coordination. This is a great example of an 18 month old stepping up to the challenge.
The bead tray included: buttons, beads with different size holes, cut up straws, and pasta (dyed with liquid watercolor).
With some of my classes I tried “Clean Mud” aka “Ghost Mud”. I ran across it first on Happy Hooligans who learned about it from Teacher Tom. These are both blogs that I love! The basic ingredients are toilet paper, bar of ivory soap (shaved down on a grater), and water.
After unrolling the toilet paper you tear it down into small pieces. Once it’s torn down you pour in a mixture of warm water and ivory shavings and mix with your hands.
The pulp is moldable and makes great “snow balls”. I think this would be a fun winter project and you could tie in the concept of snowstorms and blizzards.
We also added glitter, cars, a bulldozer that we called a snow plow, animals, and a few mark making tools.
With my 3 year-old-and-up students we made paper mache bowls. Most students really got into the first step of mixing the water and flour. We used our hands for a full sensory experience and to make sure the lumps were worked out and the consistency was right.
This project required a lot of adult support but it was fun and worth it! There were a few students who did not want to put their hands in the paste but most were intrigued by the process.
Our goal was to cover half of the balloon with three layers of overlapping newsprint that I had torn down prior to class. We moved the tables, threw down a drop cloth and got to work. This is a MESSY project with a stunning outcome. After doing a few classes I emailed the rest of my students for the week suggesting parents dress for a mess and students bring a change of clothes.
The repetitive action of soaking, adding, and smoothing paper was very calming and relaxing and there were many moments of quiet focus in between laughing and giggles. 🙂
I also learned a valuable lesson to watch out for children with arm hair. These students should apply Vaseline or heavy lotion before getting elbow deep in a flour/water solution. The paste acts as a glue and can dry quickly sticking to hair and itching the skin. I encouraged students to wash their hands mid-project if they felt like they wanted to. They usually returned from the sink ready to get back into it!
We finished off our wood collages by topping the glitter water color with chalk pastels. This mixed media project was a hit!
