Touring the Musical Instrument Museum

Ms. Pinuelas' 4th graders are doing a Dia De Los Muertos art project for the Musical Instrument Museum. The museum kindly gave us an excellent tour of the museum to get us excited about the project. Our "ofrendas" will be dedicated to deceased musicians. Part One of the project is to emulate the chrysanthemum blankets in the shapes of instruments or other symbols related to our deceased musicians. We are limited for time so we used a quick technique using tissue squares folded over the end of a pencil. The pencil is dipped in glue and held in place briefly before removing the pencil. (See Animoto below)

Beasties

These creatures were worked on by many classes during the school year and will be on display in my artroom atop my cabinets during the next school year. I really didn't have anything "cute" in the room for the younger kids except on the SMART Board so this year I'm going to cutesy it up while giving all students a chance to have a tactile activity they all need. (See Animoto below)

Another Chapter in the Paper Mache' Beastie Saga

More layers are added by various classes and the beasties become more sturdy. By alternating types of paper, I can tell how far the students get during the period. We have no windows or outdoor access so students can only add one or two layers during the 30 to 40 minutes available. (View Animoto below)

Working on the "Beasties"

All classes will have a hand in the creation of our Beasties. The younger students got to stuff the plastic bags with softly crushed newspapers and tape the bags shut. Since it's a total waste of time to clean up for a different activity, whenever we do paper mache' it's for the entire morning or afternoon and all classes get involved. This also gives everyone a stake in the project and most students use good craftsmanship while working. It's especially important to instill a sense of craftsmanship in the younger students who are quick to point out when they see something that was not done carefully and they fix it. (See Animoto below)

Intro to Paper Mache'

First graders got a chance to see the Chicago Cows, the Milwaukee Beasties, and the Holy Family Bears in their Prezi introduction to paper mache. We will be doing something akin to the beasties in the first and second grade classes.
Stuffing plastic grocery bags with crushed up newspaper was the first step to creating our beasties. Tactile activities are important and paper mache' is a cheap alternative to clay. (See Animoto below)

Intro to Paper Mache' Animals using Prezi

When I was teaching at Holy Family in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, I used the Milwaukee Beasties as inspiration for a paper mache' project. We created designer teddy bears. For Herrera Elementary in Phoenix I decided that we would create four-legged beasts. I introduced the whole project using this Prezi. Paper Mache' Animals on Prezi (See Prezi below)