Oversized Characters

Oversized characters?  Yes please! My 8th graders came up with this theme on their own, I just told them it had to been oversized.  They worked in groups of 3 or 4 and used paper mache and acrylic paint.  

Sugar Skull Two Take

I have been wanting to try one of these for quite some time, and I finally got my thoughts wrapped around how I would do it and what I would have the students make. I love the Day of the Dead decorations and what the Mexican holiday stands for.  And I knew I wanted to do this project with that subject in mind.  I had the students make two candy skulls they colored the positive space of one and the negative space of another.(9 X 12 paper)  They then drew and cut each art work into strips that were the width of a ruler.  They also drew these same line with the ruler on a piece of construction paper (12X18).  They glued the pieces in order on every other strip of the construction paper and then folded it like a fan.  I then hot glued the "fan" to a separate sheet of construction paper so that i could mount it on the bulletin board.  I have never had so many compliments!  Everyone loved the double image, and how creative the kids were with their designs.

Bubble Self Portraits

Student took pictures as if they were blowing bubbles, and used these to create their self portraits.  We cut a small hole in the mouth of the drawing and inserted blown up water balloons because they are nice and small, and they were secured with tape on the back.  The hallway display was a huge hit, a little two tempting for many students.  The bubbles barely lasted a week...it was worth replacing them though.  It was so fun!

Bright future self portraits

A twist on the plain old self portrait.  I had students take their photo with sunglasses on and draw their self portrait from that image.  Then we cut out the lenses of the drawn glasses and they traced the lenses on separate paper.  In those outlines they drew images that represented where they see themselves in the future.  

Zentangle Animals

 I have to say I can't get enough zentangles, not only do they keep the class busy, but they come out so great and the students really enjoy learning all kinds of designs.  I found theseZentangle Cards, and they are awesome.  One side explains how to create the pattern in easy step by step directions, and the other side of the card shows the finished result.  The students trade them when they are finished...except for the occasional few who hoard them!  This is a project I had my middle school enrichment group do.  I love how the colors make the animals pop!

Trashion Fashion

Our green team had a fashion show where the students had to wear and create fashion from only recyclable  materials.  They asked me to help with a few dresses, and I couldn't wait to get started!  This was like my own personal project runway challenge...I was in heaven! Here are a few of my designs!    The first is made up of duct tape and straws, the next was magazine pages for the top and doilies for the skirt, the third is duct tape and newspaper, lastly the fourth is all garbage bags. I was obsessed with this whole project.