Every wavy hair on this giant head is full of creative input from the primary school students – a multi-dimensional task! First, they were asked to think of a great first sentence for a story. Then they had to carefully handwrite their words around a spiral-shaped path. Then came the hardest bit: cutting around and around the curl – very tricky and good scissoring practice!
Recently for our school art show I was asked to supervise the Year 5 combined artwork. Every child in the year (48 kids from several classes) would participate, and the artwork would be auctioned off to the highest bidder (presumably a parent).
I decided that individually decorated matchboxes would be nice, and over several days I tossed around ideas. However, it wasn’t until I remembered A.A. Milne’s poem “Forgiven” that I was truly inspired. Here’s the finished product:
Nanny let my beetle out…
To introduce the concept, I began by reading the poem to all the kids. I gave a quick demonstration of how to draw a beetle, pointing out the parts of a beetle’s body structure, and I handed out a range of examples. The kids quickly got started on their draft drawings, then began sketching their chosen beetle onto a matchbox. (I had earlier painted the front surface of each box with undercoat.) They finished them off with a fine black permanent marker and coloured textas. Just look at what beautiful work these students did!
Stunning beetle drawn by a 10-year-old
I had already bought a black frame from an op-shop for $5, so all I had to do to finish off was paint the backboard with black chalkboard paint, write a few quotes from the poem around the edges, and add an “escaped” plastic beetle. Each matchbox and the beetle is just stuck on with PVA glue.
Some of the students at our school are particularly keen on the big library displays I put up each term. One afternoon a kid pulled me aside in a corridor to give me his big idea for the next picture. His verbal description being highly detailed (he’d clearly thought about it for some time), I asked him to draw a sketch so that I knew exactly what he meant.
The very next day he delivered a beautiful drawing to my office – quite detailed and carefully drafted – and I said it would be my pleasure to take it on board as the next display. At that point I had no idea how difficult it would be to turn someone else’s pride-and-joy into a huge painting. It was extremely challenging to keep as closely as possible to his original idea, whilst at the same time adding the extra detail and adaptations I needed to make it work at a large scale. Anyway, this lovely robot was the result, all thanks to his inspired idea!
As the weeks of the term went by, I added a robot parrot, a robot dog, some robot snacks, a wind-up mouse and a robot instruction book. The kids each coloured or created a little robot minion of their own.
Recycled rubbish becomes a decorative mobile
All the kids in the school happily donated their discarded plastic lids so I could make this “curtain” in the library. I first washed all the lids, then drilled two holes in each one. They’re held together with fishing line, with a shirt button at the bottom to provide a sound base. Each one is tied to a small hook screwed into the woodwork.
The students were astounded and delighted to see their rubbish become something beautiful, and it’s now an interesting talking-point for visitors to our library.
Close-up of lid mobile
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Bright environments for bright kids
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Letters to a Literary Icon
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