Paper Mache Penguins

Here are the results of the Grade 1 Penguin project. They turned out incredible. and are currently in the front display case at the school.

Each child chose what particular penguin they were making and then painted it accordingly.

We used the directions from this Project for the paper mache part with some alterations.

For grade 1 I decided not to do the tail and then I changed the feet. Instead of paper maching them on we opted for air dry clay.

I wanted to make sure these penguins were going to stand...I go into more detail about this further on in this post.

Materials Required:

balloons, the long skinny ones, one for each penguin

string and tape

paper towels

white glue

recycled container

water

air dry clay

tempura paint

acrylic paint

Follow the directions as described here, right up to the attaching of feet. We still made legs that we mached onto the body of the penguin however I used cut wood skewers instead of toothpicks. I wanted it to be more sturdy and I cut the skewers longer so the went up into the inside of the body at least 3 inches for added strength.

Let dry.

Take a lump of air dry clay about the size of the child's palm. Roll into a ball and then flatten into a base. Air dry clay runs about $10.00 a package and we had enough for 12 kids from 1 package.

After you have formed a base, take your penguin and push down into the clay to create two holes where you can glue the penguin into place after the clay dries and is painted.

Add two webbed feet placed on top of the clay just in front of the two holes you made.

Sometimes these feet don't stay stuck on the base after drying but that is OK as you can glue them back on when you are gluing the penguin into place.

Set your feet and bases aside to dry. This will take about 2-3 days.

While they are drying you can paint your penguin.

Because this was for a unit in school we wanted to paint our penguins as realistically as we could.

Before painting I traced out a line in pencil showing the division between black and white on the body.

I then taped this off. This worked exceptionally well. The kids first painted in the black part going right up to the tape.

We used liquid tempura for the painting.

We set this a side to dry and then removed the tape. We wanted our white bellies very white so I then taped off the penguin again now placing the tape on the black with the edge at the division point.

The kids then painted in the white. We let this dry and then removed the tape.

We added details with some acrylic paint.

When the feet and bases were dry I got the kids to paint them with acrylic paint..(orange or yellow for feet and we used silver for the base)

We let this dry and then I hot glued the penguins into place as well as fixed any loose feet.

The Grade 1's are very proud of those penguins. Great job everyone!

Coming up next: I have a Valentine Peacock project I just finished with grade 3 as well as some Valentine Crafts I'm doing with Kindergarten this week. I hope to post these in the next 2 days.

see you soon

gail

King of Hearts Puppet

Here is a 'King of Hearts' jumping jack puppet I have been designing for Kindergarten. A little complicated for a group of 5 yr olds but I think fine with small groups. I was also working on a 'Queen of Hearts' puppet but the jumping jack motion seemed a little unlady like......still figuring that out.

I think I'll convert it to a big Valentine Heart Man puppet...stay tuned for that one.

If you want to give this a go here is the directions:

Materials Required:

- template

- thin cardboard (like from a ceral box)

- paper fasteners, mine are a little large..I think you can get a size smaller

- paint, markers, crayons, whatever medium you want to add color

- Mod Podge (optional), for a shiny longlasting finish

- string

- large bead

- embellishements (optional)

- hole punch

Print off template onto cartidge paper or even cardstock.

Cut out pieces and glue to thin cardboard. I usually trace onto the cardboard using the printed pattern piece as a template, cut it out, and then glue the two pieces together. You don't have to use the card but it will be more durable with it.

Add color with medium of your choice.

Punch holes where indicated...for the small holes I used an awl but you can use a large needle.

Add detail to your puppet. I used some metallic paint .

Add a coat or two of Mod Podge to get that shiny finish and to make your puppet more durable.

I also added a coat on the back.

Let dry.

Taking your paper fasteners put puppet together.

For the moving parts do not fasten too tightly. You want there to be ease of movement.

Now to string your puppet. I used two different gauges of string. Attach small pieces of string to all the small holes securing with a knot. You will have to use a needle or awl for this.

I used crochet cotton for this as it was thin enough to thread my needle.

Take a long piece of heavier string for your main pull. About 20" or so. Place the arms and legs at rest before you tie..this is important!

Tie to the main pull, make sure there is about 2 inches of slack in the strings that are attached to the arms and legs. Try to get the slack to be equal between the 2 arms and the 2 legs.

It should look something like this.

If your arms aren't moving well you may have to seperate the strings onto 2 pulls like this. If your puppet isn't moving well consider these:

...... joints are too tight so loosen fasteners

...... not enough slack in the smaller strings attached to arms and legs

..... need to seperate arm attachments by using two pulls.

.... slack between the arms and legs is not equal on both sides

I added a wood bead at the bottom for a pull.

I also decided to add some bling to the crown.

Finally make a hole at the top with your awl or neeedle to attach a loop for hanging. There you go a dancing 'King of Hearts'

Have fun!

see you next time

gail

Grade 3 Chinese Dragons

As promised here are the Chinese Dragon Puppets done by Grade 3.

I think they did an awesome job!

Well done Grade 3!

gail

Valentine Collage

Here is a Valentine Collage project that I did with grade 1 and 2 last year.

I was teaching them different painting techniques which we then turned into our collage. The leftover paper was then used to decorate their Valentine Mail Pockets. (essentially a big heart shaped envelope made from white posterboard)











Materials Required:


- white paper, can also use white fingerpaint paper
- black paper
- paint in valentine colors
- paintbrush
- bubble wrap
- old comb (you can also use cardboard cut like a comb for the same effect)
- splatter box
- gluestick
- pastels
- scissors




Paper #1 Bubblewrap Print


Take some bubblewrap and cut into squares suitable for small hands. Place some paint onto a plate. You can use liquid tempera or acrylic...whatever you have on hand....if using cake tempera, moisten the colors you want.


Take your bubble wrap, place into paint bubble side down and print onto the paper.




Paper #2 Combed


Paint your paper with paint. Fingerpaint paper works really well for this method. You want it to be fairly wet and thickly coated.



You can also mix some flour into your paint to get a thicker consistency just make sure you are using a heavy paper for this.





Before it dries take your comb and comb some patterns thru the paint. I just buy a few extra picks from the dollar store to have on hand. Picks seem to work the best due to the handle.



Paper #3 Splatter

Kids always love this technique. To minimize the mess have a splatter box...just a fair sized cardboard box with tall sides. If you can do this outside as well or just make sure you have a dropcloth set out around the box.

Take fairly thin paint and fling it on the paper with a paint brush, (see photos in this past post).

Use valentine colors and splatter quite extensively.


Let all the papers dry.




Cut a vase shape out of one of your papers and then start cutting hearts. Big ones, small ones, cut out ones. Place on your black paper to help figure out your design.



When happy with your design start gluing down with a glue stick. Now some kids may want to draw their stems out first before gluing....the only issue with that is to get them vary the stem sizes and lengths. You'd be surprised how many want to line them up like soldiers in perfect formation. Unfortunately that doesn't make a great bouquet.




Add stems and leaves. We used oil pastels as they show up the best on black paper. With older kids you may want to continue with the paper collage and have them cut stems and leaves out of green paper.

That's it. I am currently working on more valentine projects and hope to post them soon. As well we are almost finished our paper mache penguins. They have turned out better than expected and will be put on display in the school library. I hope to have pictures next week.

The Chinese Dragons turned out great and Grade 3 staged a Dragon Dance parade on Monday. I planned on posting a few pictures but they were so fast they all are a blur. I'll try to get some photos of the dragon puppets tomorrow.

see you next time

gail