Thrifty Scissors

Monday, September 30, 2013

Draw a Design from A Spider's Web

Start your web design by randomly selecting a point,
on a sheet of black construction paper, somewhere in
the center of your paper. Then draw, with the help of
a ruler, lines from that central point out to the edges
of the paper. Your design should look something like
a giant sliced pie.

Then take either a bottle of white school glue or black puff
paint bottle, and squeeze out a thin line of liquid tracing the
drawing thus far. Then, very carefully, squeeze out the
intersecting spiral lines of the spider's web pattern leaving
large spaces approximately 1/2 inch to 1 or 2 inches apart.

Next, you will need to fill in these spaces of your web design
with chalk pastels. After completing the design, Teachers may
spray fix the pastels with either a special fixative purchased
for the preservation of chalk pastel drawings or with
a inexpensive hair spray.

A close up view of my spider's web design. This art project
is an exercise in calculation, glue application, and a
introduction to chalk pastels. I recommend it for 2nd
through 4th grade students.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Craft a Ruote Pasta Web

These little Ruote, more commonly known as wagon wheel pasta in America, make interesting design elements in a spider web craft for early learners.

First, teachers will need to dye these Ruote pasta black:

Add the dryed Route pasta to a large zip-lock plastic bag. (1lb. per large freezer bag at a time)
Include a few teaspoons of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of black food coloring inside the bag with the dryed pasta.
Close the bag tight and shake.
Pour this pasta out onto a napkin or paper towel to let it dry either in the sunshine or overnight in a warm place.

Left, a view of the Ruote pasta spider web from the side. Right, a view of the pasta spider web from above.

Once you have prepared the dried pasta for your young students, you will need to gather the following supplies:

black construction paper
white school glue
dyed black Ruote pasta
white tempera or acrylic paint
newsprint to cover the table with
Q-tips and cast off plastic lids for the gluing process

Step-by-step Instructions:

First, have the young students play at arranging the pasta on the table top before actually gluing it down to the paper. Talk to them about the shape, texture and color of the pasta while they experiment with arranging it.
Give each student a handful of pasta, a black piece of construction paper, a plastic lid full of liquid white school glue and a Q-tip for dipping into the glue.
Demonstrate to them, at their table, how to dip the Q-tip into the glue and then glop it onto the construction paper. This process of applying glue to the paper will help little people add enough glue for the pasta to stick to the paper but not so much glue that they cannot control it's application all together.
Now the pasta may be layered on top of the glue and arranged in a web like pattern.
These 'spider webs' will need to dry overnight in the classroom.
On the following day students should each be given another plastic lid filled with non-toxic white paint.
Show your early learners how to dip their fingers into the white paint and dab it lightly onto the very tops of the Ruote in order to highlight the pasta's design.
Let the webs dry again. This takes only an hour or less.

More Fall Crafts Using Pasta:

Draw a Shaded White Spider Web

During the Fall season, I frequently focus student's assignments on those themes that are inspired by the natural world. Drawing spider webs is a great way to include design principles, drawing techniques and science all together in one project. Students will need a few simple supplies for this drawing exercise:

a large piece of black construction paper
a white led pencil or white conte or white pastel etc...

Instruct the students to first draw a large X shape anywhere on their paper and divide the rest of the drawing into pie shaped pieces using their white lead pencils. Next they will need to draw a spiral design working their way out from the center of the web to the edges of the paper. Within this spiral they need to further divide the web sections into small rectangular shapes. Then they will need to shade each of these small shapes in order to create a similar web to the one I have shown in the photograph above. Students may also wish to include a large black spider somewhere within their web design as well.

With this drawing exercise, students will learn how to shade a tiny space gradually, the differences between positive and negative space, and also about repeating patterns. I recommend the exercise for fifth or sixth graders.

Draw More Spider Webs:

Saturday, September 28, 2013

100 Spooky Crafts & Treats For Halloween

You needn't worry about using patterns for this Halloween craft
because the even a novice artist can come up with their own charming
version of this pumpkin patch!

Spook your own set of paper jack-o-lanterns with a little bit of glittery morning mist; all it takes is just a few simple supplies. Gather a pair of scissors, some white school glue, a black felt tipped pin and construction paper in orange, green, black and white, plus transparent glitter to craft a similar picture to the one shown here.

I chose to mount the jack-o-lanterns onto a large sheet of black construction paper. Then I cut a large number of lop sided circular shapes from the orange construction paper. Paste on black shaped openings for the large toothy grins and grimaces from additional black construction paper. Then cut and paste green stems and vines from the green construction paper. I painted my white construction paper with a pearlescent white paint before cutting it out to add eyes and teeth, but you could use just plain white paper if you'd prefer. I then added the details to these frightened pumpkins with a black felt tipped marker. Squeeze a wavy line or two of white glue onto the surrounding dark sky and add the transparent glitter to finish off this spooky pumpkin patch, just in time for Halloween!

More Jack-O-Lantern Crafts:

Not So Spooky, Spooky Crafts:

Spooky Treats for Young & Old:

Friday, September 27, 2013

Wad, Wrap and Tape A Fall Pumpkin Craft

Harvest an entire "field" of pumpkins this school year without the mess and toil! Masking tape comes in many different colors and is an excellent craft material for young students to work with. Below I have included just one of the many craft ideas that I have developed for young students in my classroom using masking tape. Teachers will need to purchase this tape in orange and green for this Fall pumpkin craft. They will also need newsprint, small paper bags and green chenille stems in order to complete the the pumpkin pictured below. Also, take this opportunity to speak to your students about what it means to recycle materials while crushing and repurposing old newsprint for the stuffing used to craft their paper pumpkins.

Directions:

Crush and wad newsprint into a ball resembling a pumpkin shape.
Stuff a small paper bag with the newsprint wad.
Crush the top of the bag into a stem shape and twist a piece of green masking tape around this "stem" to seal the bag.
Now twist the stem and mask it with more green tape until the stem has been completely covered.
Next cover the lower half of the pumpkin with orange masking tape strips approximately two to three inches long. Cover all of the remaining brown or white parts of the bag.
The bag's corners should be eventually taped down as well and the bottom completely covered.
Twist a springy, soft green chenille stem around the pumpkin's stem for added texture and effect!

An excellent alternative material to use in place of paint for crafting Fall pumpkins is colored masking tape, especially
if you are teaching "art on a cart" and need to keep mess down to a minimum.

"Spooky" Tree Watercolor Painting

I first observed this simple little art project taught in an elementary school in Bellville, Illinois. The kindergarteners seemed to love it. You will need to collect the following supplies:

orange construction paper
straws
watery black paint in individual paper cups
black permanent ink markers
paint shirts
a drying rack
glass eye droppers
tables covered with newsprint to prevent mess

Step-by-step instructions:

Each student will need to suck in the watery black paint with an eye dropper and strategically pool it near the bottom of their orange construction paper. The teacher may decide to do this part of the project for each student if he or she feels they are too young to handle the eye droppers responsibly.
Then students should hold a straw approximately half an inch above the puddle and blow through it while watching the watery paint streak up their paper. This exercise will produce some very spooky looking shrubs, brush, and trees!
After the Halloween "foliage" has dried (day 2), students may then draw onto their pictures with black permanent markers: Jack-O-Lanterns, a fence, bats, cats, crows, owls etc...

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Weave Indian Corn for Autumn Fun!

An example of woven Indian corn.

This craft project for fall is a classic. It is both simple and fitting for any classroom teacher's October theme. I suggest that it is best taught to 3rd graders. You will need to cut a large corn shaped pattern and cut across the width of the shape with narrow slashes. Do not cut through the end pieces of the cob's shape. You are going to be tucking the narrow strips of paper into the shape as you are weaving. Alternate at least three Autumn colors of paper as you go. I chose to include tan, yellow, and pale orange, but you could use many other color combinations. Teachers may wish to purchase several lovely ears of Indian corn to display in the classroom so that students can make comparisons between their own color selections and those found in nature.

For the corn cob you will only be weaving strips in one direction by the same method shown in the video below.
The cob shape will be slashed down the length of it's center only but not all the way to it's end.
As students weave these paper strips they may also use masking tape on the backside of the cob to keep the woven strips in place.
The backside of the cob will be glued to green or tan leaves and the tape will not be seen in any case. This little step helps young students to manipulate the woven craft to greater satisfaction.
When your woven Indian corn is finished, simply snip off the ruff edges to create an polished looking project.
Then glue on a few green leaves to frame the cob nicely.

I've included a video below to show the simple technique of paper weaving, for those of you who may not have attempted to teach it before. In this video, the technique demonstrates weaving done with strips only. This makes the craft a bit more difficult. Perhaps students of 4th grade classrooms could complete it best.

When making a woven mat as part of a kids' art project, a large piece of cardboard is needed as the background. Make a woven mat with tips from an art teacher in this free video on art for kids.

Expert: Pauline Stannard
Bio: Pauline Stannard has over 20 years of teaching experience and runs art workshops for children.
Filmmaker: Kathy Stannard

Weaving Projects During the Holidays:

Draw a Scarecrow Emphasizing The Use of Pattern(s)

This drawing lesson, for 3rd through 5th grade, requires students to first draw with black ink markers on white paper. The challenge is to draw many patterned spaces within the context of a larger theme. I have selected a scarecrow in a corn field theme for my teacher's sample above. After students have finished drawing their scarecrows, they may then color these in with a combined selection of metallic and regular ink pens.

More Scarecrow Art Projects:

Paint, Cut and Paste Your Own Bumpy Little Pumpkins

This little story reminds me of the trips my husband and I used to take to the pumpkin patch with our children every year when they were small. They would roam the fields for an entire afternoon looking for the perfect pumpkins to carve on Halloween. My husband would pull them in a little red wagon when their small legs became tired. It was a charming annual event and some of our best photo opportunities happened in the pumpkin patch.

The little girl in this story feels self-conscious about her preference for the bumpy pumpkin. Her sisters tease her but her animal friends encourage her to trust her own artistic vision for the bumpy jack-o-lantern she imagines in her head. I will be reading this sweet little story at the early learning center this Fall and will also include a bumpy little pumpkin craft along with it.

"The Bumpy Little Pumpkin" by Margery Cuyler is illustrated by Will Hillenbrand. Teaches young students the importance of perseverance and individual taste.

I used the above pictures sponge rollers for the painting of these little bumpy pumpkins. I also mixed together both red glittery paint and a bright orange acrylic to achieve the color and texture used in this Halloween craft.

These "baby faced" jack-o-lanterns wouldn't scare anybody. A simple and sweet cut and paste project for very young students.

Friday, September 20, 2013

"The Miser" by Aesop

A miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had and converted it into a great lump of gold, which he hid in a hole in the ground, and went continually to visit and inspect it. This roused the curiosity of one of his workmen, who suspected that there was a treasure, when his master's back was turned, went to the spot, and stole it away. When the Miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But a neighbour who saw him in this extravagant grief, and learned the cause of it, said, "Fret thyself no longer, but take a stone and put it in the same place, and think that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to use it, the one will do you as much good as the other."

The moral of the story: The worth of money is not in its possession, but in its use.

The fable on the left may be printed freely for classroom use.

"The Sheep And The Pig" by Aesop

This particular fable by Aesop was originally illustrated by Milo Winter. I have restored the print and also attached
the same original English translation of Aesop's "The sheep and the pig" so that teachers may print the two together
and pass the fable out in the classroom for study.

One day a shepherd discovered a fat Pig in the meadow where his Sheep were pastured. He very quickly captured the porker, which squealed at the top of its voice the moment the Shepherd laid his hands on it. You would have thought to hear a the loud squealing, that the Pig was being cruelly hurt. But in spite of its squeals and struggles to escape, the Shepherd tucked his prize under his arm and started off to the butcher's in the market place.

The Sheep in the pasture were much astonished and amused at the Pig's behavior, and followed the Shepherd and his charge to the pasture gate.

"what makes you squeal like that?" asked on of the Sheep, "The Shepherd often catches and carries off one of us. But we should feel very much ashamed to make such a terrible fuss about it like you do."

"That is all very well," replied the Pig, with a squeal and a frantic kick. "When he catches you he is only after your wool. But he wants my bacon! gree-ee-ee!"

Moral of the story: It is easy to be brave when there is no danger.

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" by Goodridge

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" is a popular English nursery rhyme. The rhyme has been seen as having religious and historical significance, but its origins and meaning are disputed. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19626.

The most common modern version is:

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

The oldest known version was first published in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (c. 1744) with the following lyrics:

Mistress Mary, Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells,
And so my garden grows.

Several printed versions of the eighteenth century have the lyrics:

Mistress Mary, Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells,
Sing cuckolds all in a row.

The last line has the most variation including:

Cowslips all in a row.

and

With lady bells all in a row.

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