Pinch Pot Chia Pets
It all begins with an idea.
Pinch Pot Chia Pets was a lesson I had created in my high school clay classes. The inspiration behind this was the 1990s sensation of Chia Pets and the love of easy horticulture that was uniquely your own. Students were introduced to the Chia Pet brand and their merchandise, examples from previous lessons, and my examples made for their class that they could touch and view from all angles to get a better idea. Students started by making lists of animals/pets or people/characters they wanted to recreate with their own creative twists and spins. From that list, they were to choose three of their favorites or the most interesting and sketch them out to get a good visual of how they want their Chia Pet to look.
Students were given creative freedom for their design and imagery as long as it had a water basin to hold water and the “Chia Pet” portion was textured enough to allow the seeds to stick properly and draw water from the basin. Students were given demonstrations and step-by-step photos of the process while they created their work, all while I walked around and made sure everyone was helped and on the right track. Students seemed to enjoy the project and the freedom of the design and overall creativity of the project. After the pieces had been glazed and fired I made pouches of chia seeds that included instructions on how to grow them once they were finished that they could take home!
Camouflage Butterflies
It all begins with an idea.
While in the elementary classroom, I created a lesson based on the artist Cecilia Paredes and the Peppered Moth that was centered around camouflage with the use of the elements of art. Students were given a video of the science behind camouflage in regards to the Peppered Moth and examples of Cecilia’s work and information on how she became an artist and what she is doing now. Students would engage in a refresher game Eye-Spy with the elements of art (line, color, texture, shape, etc) where during the PowerPoint students were asked to pinpoint what animal is using camouflage and what elements of art it is using. The kids loved it!
After a fun refresher, students began their camouflaging using colored pencils and layering different colors to create their perfect camouflage. Students were given roughly 5-10 minutes where they could pick any spot in the room, within reach, where they were able to tape and color their butterfly to camouflage into its surroundings. With the last 5 minutes of class, the students came up with the idea of having their teacher come in and try and find their class butterflies like the bird in the Peppered Moth science video! This not only motivated the kids to try their hardest to make their butterflies blend in more but also encouraged the kids to help each other and make suggestions on how to make their butterfly hide better.
If Dinosaurs Came Back
It all begins with an idea.
If Dinosaurs Came Back is an elementary lesson that uses color and active imagination to create stories of new dinosaur friends. Students begin the lesson by hearing the book If Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most. Where students learn about the different kinds of dinosaurs and their jobs, students are asked questions that get them thinking about their dinosaurs and what kind of jobs they would like to have all while using colors and shapes to help connect back to the elements of art.
Students were asked to recall the different dinosaurs in the video and which one they would have liked to have, and they were asked about the primary colors and what some warm colors and cool colors were. Using the warm and cool colors as a base of the lesson students were able to color their dinosaur based on their chosen primary color. If their dinosaur was a warm primary color they had to keep their dinosaur warm by coloring with the warm half of the color wheel, and if their dinosaur was a cool color they had to keep their dinosaur cool by coloring with the cool half of the color wheel.
Once colored students were able to create a landscape where their dinosaurs worked. Examples were given to students on how to draw a city, a body of water a boat, and even a home. Students were given creative freedom to create a story behind their dinosaur friend with what job they were preforming and where they were living with heir dinosaur and the students loved everything about it. They would name their dinosaurs and even draw themselves in their drawings to further their narratives!
