Black Glue (tested and improved)

Most of the time when I use something from Pinterest, I test it first.  But as things are now, being a mobile teacher, I don't have much time to test things before I just have to throw them into my lesson.

Thus the black glue mess.

I was trying to do a Kandinsky-inspired lesson with the kinders.  I coordinated with the music teacher and we did a joint lesson about Jazz music and how that relates to Rhythm in art and the artist Kandinsky.  Then I had the kiddos draw with crayons to re-create the feeling of the jazz music we were listening to, keeping them focused on making lines and shapes; abstract, not representational.

Then the plan was to edit their crayon drawings, and pick what we liked the best, then recreate that on a new piece of drawing paper using the black glue you see all over pinterest, then color in between the dried glue with chalk pastels.

"Oh, it's so easy!  Just mix some black tempera or acrylic with your white glue and away you go!"

NOPE.

Wasn't that easy for me.  First of all, I had to find the right kind of glue.  The Elmer's worked fine, but the off brand melted the black paint and wouldn't mix at all, nor would the crayola glue.  (It was too thick.)

So once I had a billion little bottles mixed up, I gave them to the kids and woops!  "MINE WON'T SQUEEZE OUT!"  "MINE'S COMING OUT GRAY!"  "MINE'S BROKEN!"

Don't you love it?  My glue is broken.  Lol.

After dealing with all of that, I then realized I would have to refill the bottles for the next couple of classes, because they got used up pretty quickly.  And refilling the bottles with glue AND paint and mixing them before the kids had to use them?  Nope.  Didn't happen.  There just wasn't time.

So here's what I did:

I made use of an almost empty bottle of black tempera paint; the one that still has paint in it, but not enough to be pumped out by the gallon paint pumper, and I poured a bunch of bottles of Elmer's into it.  Then I closed the lid tightly, and rolled it up and down the hallway, and shook it up.  It mixed up great!  That was WAAAY easier than mixing 30 individual bottles!  Now I can refill the black glue bottles from my big one, and I know the mixture will be the same consistency with all of the bottles!

I did this in the hallway, too, by the way.  Lol.

Frank Lloyd Wright- Inspired "Stained Glass"

I had been envious of the pretty chalk and glue line projects I've seen on other blogs, and it finally dawned on me that I could do that with black construction paper...

Second Graders have the North American Theme, and so I decided to tie this in with Frank Lloyd Wright, his geometric style and his stained glass.  We talked about geometric shapes vs. organic shapes, Balance, and Space.

I gave the kiddos a black piece of construction paper, about 6 x 9.  I told them to write their names on the back and then put their pencils away, because we were gonna draw with GLUE.  I found that it worked better to have them draw directly onto the paper with the glue, rather than try to make a design with the pencils first.  When they drew with the pencils, they made everything too small, and then trying to go over it with the glue was frustrating.  So, they made simple, geometric shapes, and made sure to leave some open space so they could "see" out of the window.

The following class I gave them chalk pastels to color in the spaces around the glue shapes.  I'd planned on giving them paintbrushes with tissue wrapped around the wrong end for blending, since I didn't have any Q-tips at the time.  One kid started using the actual brushy end of the brush to blend the colors, and it worked GREAT!  As long as they washed the brushes out afterwards, I let them use the paintbrushes for blending.  One less thing to buy!

Here's how they turned out.  There wasn't a single one that didn't look gorgeous!

NEWS FLASH! Acrylic Paint +Crayola Glue = Block Printing Ink

I have been frustrated with the cost of block printing ink, and the way that it seems to get wasted whenever I use it with my students.  So I tried making my own.  I was shocked that it actually worked.  :)

Using CRAYOLA school glue (not the runny Elmer's kind) and regular old cheap-y acrylic paint, I mixed an almost 1:1 ratio.  I put a little bit more paint than glue.  Then I used the roller to mix it all.  I suppose you could do this ahead of time and keep it in air-tight jars.  maybe the glue would settle to the bottom of the jar though.  I don't know.  Anyhow, the thickness of the glue made the paint less runny, and it also added a bit of tackyness to the ink, so that it had that orange peel texture as I rolled it on the plate.  Only problem I noticed was that it dries faster than block printing ink.  Maybe that's not a problem to you, but I'm very fastidious about my prints, and I clean as I go, so I work slowly. 

Anyhow, it worked!  I thought this was worth sharing with all 88 of you ;)

Finished Thiebaud Cupcakes

These turned out really cute!

The finished project

 

 

Shaving cream "paint" still wet

I ended up just mixing the "frosting" paint in a ziploc bag, about 2 bottles of Elmer's glue to half a can of shaving cream.  I cut the corner of the baggie off and squeezed the frosting on the cupcakes myself.  The Kindergarteners were not able to use the small squeeze bottles efficiently, and ended up with not enough frosting, or way too much.  Thus, I let them add more details, like the crinkles on the cupcake wrappers and the sprinkles and cherry. 

The frosting paint took TWO FULL DAYS to dry.  Beware of taking them off the drying rack and storing them when the frosting is dry-ish, even dry to the touch, it can still squish out from underneath and get them hopelessly stuck together.

UPDATE:  I've since made this project even better by mixing in one more element:  JELLO.  See my blog on Chocolate Paint.  After I tried it that way, I noticed the paint drying very hard, but it still had texture.  I wanted the texture to be fluffy though!  So I mixed about a half a box of JELLO pudding powder into a half a gallon ziploc baggie with a fourth a can of shaving cream and a half a bottle of glue.  I made two batches; one chocolate and one vanilla.  Below are the results of this experiment:

See how fluffy they are!  They have to be staggered on the drying rack, because they even rise a little bit as they dry.  Some students decided to make ice cream cones instead of cupcakes.  I like that idea, too. 

The finished product!  If you look closely you can see a little indentation on the left side where the drying rack smushed the icing a bit as it dried.

 

So far I like the Jello/Shaving cream/glue paint the best.  But for different applications, I can see how the other types could be very useful too!

Wayne Thiebaud Inspired Cupcakes with Texture! (And the Joy of Pinterest)

This is my new favorite Kindergarten lesson.  I might even try it with Second grade just to see how far I can push it.  First, I talk about texture and show the kiddos a short video clip.  Then I set up "centers" in the room for the different textures.  At one table, I set up tissue paper and watered down glue, and let the kids cover a half sheet of drawing paper with the crinkly textured paper.  For this example, I just used straight water, and pulled off the tissue when it all dried.  The dye left the inpression of texture, just visual texture, not tactile.  But for the kids I put a little bit of glue in the water, and so far they are doing just fine with this technique.

At another table, I set up my "epic sparkle paint" or "lumpy paint" as I called it in one class.  I just literally poured all the remnants of various specialty paints I had into a cool whip container and mixed it all up.  I had mostly gold tempera, with various colors of glitter glue and loose glitter, and some "texture-it" paint.

The kids painted another half sheet of drawing paper with the gold sparkle paint.  I ALMOST let them use their hands for this, but with 28 kindergarteners in a class at a time, I couldn't deal with it all.  if you have a smaller class, or you want to do each step one day at a time, then it might work to let them use their hands.  I've done that with first grade before, and it was a lovely mess.  :)

At the third table I set up texture rubbing plates, crayons without paper, and free draw scrap paper.  This was a great filler activity, because it related to what we were making, but they could take it with them, instead of having to let it dry. 

On day two, after talking about the fabulous Wayne Thiebaud and his deliciously textured paintings, the kiddos will be given trapezoid-shaped stencils to trace onto their gold paper and cut out.  Those will be glued onto the tissue paper background with glue sticks. 

Finally, the PUFFY PAINT!!  This was so easy I almost choked with joy.  :)  In a ziploc bag, I squirt equal parts Elmer's glue and cheap Shaving cream.  I smush it all up.  Thenm I empty the air out of the bag and reseal it.  I cut the corner of the bag off and squeezed it out just like icing!  You may have to make a fresh batch for each class, so don't make too much at once!  I am trying to get some red pom poms or buttons to add to the top of our cupcakes as little cherries.  I've also seen people use colored rice for sprinkles. 

I like this puffy paint better than other texture paints, which I've made with sawdust and joint compound in the past.  This was just so fun to squeeze and it even smells nice!

I am a little worried I might have some kiddos try to eat their cupcakes.  Haha!  And you know what, while this project is ever so slightly cutesy, I like that it can be so closely tied to the Element of Texture and the artist Thiebaud.  It's almost over the top for me, but the puffy paint made it way fun.  Above is my Gigi's style cupcake, with 90% icing.  :)

I am going to experiment with another texture paint recipe I found on Pinterest.  This one uses flour, salt, and tempera paint.  They put it in condiment bottles, and that may be easier to mix up than the shaving cream. 

By the way, if you are an Art Educator, a teacher, or a parent, you MUST check out Pinterest.  It's a bulletin board system for pictures and links.  I can't say enough wonderful things about it.  Since I made my boards I have tried countless recipes, activities, and even put together outfits, and teaching ideas just because of other people's brilliance.  Lost of hits for my blog there too!  Here's a link to my pinterest page, feel free to follow me!

My Pinterest

Monochromatic Collages

 So this is a project from ages ago, but I was recently organizing my iPhoto, and it appeared.  I was very happy with the way they look displayed.  Ah the good old days when I actually had time to hang up artwork in the halls!  Ha! 

I showed slides of Mark Rothko (not one of my favorite artists, but the kids really responded well to the idea of color invoking mood.)  After a lesson on value, tints, shades, and all that, the kids chose one piece of construction paper.  This would be their HUE.  

Then they simply cut things from magazines that were in different values of that same hue.  Finally I had them cut letters out (ransom note style) and add them to their collage, making a sentence that pertained somehow to the mood of their artwork.  These turned out even better the next year when I ran out of construction paper, and instead gave the kids a half sheet of regular drawing paper and instructed them to color it entirely one hue, using the MR. SKETCH scented markers.  This not only made the kids ecstatic, but it also filled my classroom with a lovely fruity aroma.  I am a believer in aromatherapy, just as a side note.  And it may sound hokey but I really think scent has an effect on mood as well.  This was something I didn't think to point out to the kiddos at the time, but it would tie in well with Rothko.

After they all finished gluing, I had them coat their collages with watered-down elmer's glue.  The year that we started with white drawing paper and markers, the final glue coat liquified the marker a little bit, resulting in an all over subtle color wash.  Neither I nor the kids were expecting this, and they were overjoyed.  They were tinting their collages themselves.  What a nice surprise!  This also made the work feel more handmade, as the construction paper backgrounds tended to look a little flat.