Spring Weaving Project

This is a project I'm currently doing with Grade One.  It's in conjunction with another teacher around a creative writing project.  We were currently in the middle of a weaving unit so I decided to combine it all together into one art project.

The kids spent some time discussing the return of birds at springtime as this is starting to happen right now in Calgary.  The first Robins are just returning.  The kids were then asked to write a Haiku poem about the return of the birds.

Now the kids had already done some paper weaving as part of their weaving unit...straight lines...then wiggly lines...getting used to the under and then over concept.

For this project I gave them all a piece of scrim or rug hooking mat.  You can buy it in bulk at some fabric stores they also carry it at Michael's.  I paid $12.00 for a 3ft by 5ft piece (double what I needed).  I then cut it into 5"x9" pieces.
Because this was to be a nest I painted each piece quickly with some brown acrylic paint.

I then gathered up a variety of materials for the kids to weave with...ribbon,  fabric strips (about 1 inch wide),  chenile yarn,  wool roving,  felt strips, etc.

We talked about how there are birds called weavers and that birds use a lot of different materials to make their nests.  I gave each child a large plastic needle and they got started weaving through the scrim.  Some changed colors every row,  some weaved it the short way instead of the long way...every one was different.

When finished it should look something like this...I made sure the kids skipped the top and bottom row when they started weaving.

 I then gave each student a 12" x 12" piece of cardboard.  (I'm notorious for keeping cardboard).


They then painted their piece a bright blue with some acrylic paint.

Set aside to dry.

When dry we sponged on some clouds with acrylic white paint.

We cut out a branch shape from some brown paper but you could easily paint this on as well.

Glue into place.

I took the weaving and trimmed off the top row.

I then used a glue gun and glued the bottom rows up and onto the back of the weaving.  GLUE GUNS SHOULD ONLY BE USED BY AN ADULT.

I then brought in each side in at an angle and glued in place at the back.

Do both sides.

When you turn it over it should look like this from the front.

Then glue into place on your background sitting on your branch.  I used a glue gun because I was in a rush but you could also use tacky glue.

Make sure you leave it open like a pocket.

Now each child needed an egg for their nest.  You could easily make this out of paper but I wanted it to have a 3D look to it so I bought these styrofoam eggs at the dollar store...6 eggs for $1.50...enough for 12 kids.

I cut each egg in half and pulled out the hanger.

Glue into place inside the nest with some tacky glue.

I then came up with a bird template....sketch out bird , you can use my Bird Template if you wish.

I traced it onto some cereal box cardboard for a sturdy template.  I gave the kids photocopied pages from a bird book.  We traced the Bird Template onto these pages and cut it out.

We added some of the titles from the bird pages onto the bird...glue in place.

Then using our tempera disks we added a bit of color.

We glued on an eye but you could paint one on or cut one out of paper if you wish.

Spread some glue on the back.....

...and secure in place.

Here I stamped out the words to my Haiku but the kids are doing theirs on the computer (part of their computer class).

We then cut out each individual word and glue into place on our project.





That's it...I'm hoping to get the display up by Friday so I hope to have some pictures of their efforts for you then.

Speaking of displays I have to show you some recent work by the students

Here are the penguins done by Grade One...sorry for the reflections but they are in the display case.

If you are interested in making these you can follow my tutorial here.

Here the Grade 4's have taken the Knights and Princesses from this lesson and added some castle backgrounds.

We are also working on a large mural as a backdrop for the rest of our Knights and Princesses.


Well that is all for now....I'll see you next time.

Clay Inukshuks

For the last few years the Grade 2's have been making these clay Inukshuk scenes.  Studying the Inuit is part of the social studies curriculum and this fits in nicely.  This year it is an added bonus that the Inukshuk is the symbol of the Vancouver Olympics.

You need to slice off a 2 inch slab from your clay block.  If you don't have access to a kiln you can make one out of air dried clay.  Roll your piece out flat until it is about 1 to 3/4's of an inch.

Taking a wooden skewer (best tool for cutting) cut out a nice egg shape approximately 8 inches long.

Dip your finger in water and smooth the edge of this cut.  You don't want a jagged cut because after it bakes in the kiln this edge can be quite sharp. (ouch!)

Take your egg and fold it up smooshing the back a bit to form a good supportive seam.  You can also turn up the corners a bit to give this shape extra support.

Using a cookie cutter, old tomato paste can , or in our case a small metal case that normally would hold beads..cut out a small circle for your sun.

To glue this onto your scene make sure you score the back of the circle as well as where you want it to go ...add a touch of water and stick into place.  The kids all know to "scratch, scratch, water, water" to glue pieces of clay together.

You can scratch in some rays for your sun.

The next thing to do is to cut out the rectangular shapes for your Inukshuk.  They will be glued (scratch,scratch,water,water) onto the back of the scene so you don't have to make them too thick.

It should look something like this.

You now need to start forming your Inuit hunter.
Make a body shape and attach to the base.

Roll a head between your palms and then roll a long snake.

Attach this to your head to represent the fur around the collar of the coat.







Make sure to scratch in your face.

Glue (scratch,scratch,water,water) into place onto of the body.  Roll a second snake to form the arms and attach as one piece onto the back of the body.  I usually have to remind the kids that arms come from the shoulders and not the waist as they always seem to want to attch them there.



You can start adding rocks to make your fire circle.  Just scratch the base and don't worry about scratching each individual rock.

Finally they can add some fish.

It should look something like this.

Put the completed scenes somewhere safe and warm to dry.


I usually have them loosely covered with a garbage bag for 24 hrs. (that way they don't dry out to fast leaving cracks)  I then remove the bag and let them fully dry out for about 2 weeks.  This ensures we have no mishaps in the kiln.

After they have dried out carefully load your kiln and bisque fire.


We decided to paint ours with acrylics to get a nice opague (dense) color but you can also use glaze and fire again.


The kids were instructed to paint the sky and snow first and then all the details.

After letting the paint cure for 24 hrs I'll seal them with a glossy acrylic medium or sealer.

That's it.  Sorry this photo is not the best...the skylights at the school always mess me up...good natural light to work under but washes out my photos.


Give it a try and I'll see you soon.