Visual Arts on a Budget

During the summer I put a link on my Facebook page to a Survey Monkey questionnaire about  the visual arts budget in classrooms. 

Most teachers (32%) have a budget of €100-200 euro each year. The top 5 resources bought from this money are paper/card, paints, clay, PVA glue and crepe paper.

With a strict budget, many teachers are looking for ways to cut down their art supplies bill so to ensure that they can bring the best variety of art lessons to the children in their class. So here are some ideas!

Certain supplies are worth investing in, as they can be minded throughout the years. Such examples are print rollers and pastels. 

Fabric and Fibre

Firstly ReCreate Ireland is a fantastic resource. 

Basically this is a warehouse full of reused art supplies. When a company is throwing out supplies they send it here. You can visit and fill your car with as much resources as you need. The school can join and everyone can access the supplies, and there is also an individual membership plan. 

There are loads of unused plastic containers that can be used as water pots/ paint trays also.

http://recreate.ie/galleries/

Another idea to collect fabric and fibre resources is to visit your local curtain suppliers. Sample books are often thrown out. They are great as the material is already cut to a nice size. Some thicker materials can be difficult for younger years to cut however. 

http://sampling-international.co.uk/

Ask the children to collect Christmas wrapping paper and Easter egg wrappers for you. We always did this for our teachers and loved to try flatten the tin foil from the eggs! 

http://beafunmum.com/easter-craft-and-activities/

Paint and Colour

Cereal boxes are great for making stencils from also. Cut out the shapes with a craft knife. 

In terms of paint and paper- there are often better deals when these are bought in bulk- it might be worth teaming up with another teacher in the school and going halves on some items. 

Have a cup at the back of your class for any 'lost and found' markers or crayons. I keep a plastic tub full of odd markers and crayons and the class love to use them as there is a good variety!

It may be useful to have an 'at school' pencil case and an 'at home' one to ensure equipment doesn't get lost as quick.  

Clay

Clay is a strand unit, yet a bag can set you back €15. There are alternatives to store bought clay however. 

Homemade salt dough is really easy to make and sets hard in the oven. 

http://theimaginationtree.com/2010/10/salt-dough-handprints.html

Natural clay is something that children can always access. That sticky wet clay is perfect for experimenting in manipulation play. How about creating some tree creatures from it?

http://www.wildheritage.co.uk/marvellous-mud-art/

Print 

Foam printing can be expensive, but foam plates (€1.49 pack of 20- Dealz) are a great alternative.

Use old CV covers (plastic part) to print on also. 

Buy PVA glue in 5 litre tubs as it will last. Just pour some hot water over the lid if it gets stuck! 

Construction:

Bring the class outdoors and explore creating shelters. They can be constructed on a small or large scale, depending on the resources available. 

Ideas for building shelters: http://www.mykidsadventures.com/outdoor-survival-shelter/

Responding to Art

There are some amazing sites to create art on that are absolutely free.

http://clairesprimaryschoolart.blogspot.ie/2015/08/websites-for-art.html

Some books that are great to inspire children are also available on Youtube. 

Many of these books may be in your local library also.

I hope these are useful ideas! Please share any tips of tricks that you may know! :) 

Graduation Art

I've received some messages looking for graduation art ideas- here's some I sourced online!

My all time favourite graduation book is "Oh the Places You'll Go", by Dr. Seuss, my cousin gave me a copy of this many years ago and I've cherished it since.

This book would be a great source of inspiration.

I love the idea of making your own graduation hat and decorating. Use card- a long strip and a square.

Name based art is also lovely

http://happyhooligans.ca/name-art-sharpies-tin-foil/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Name+Art+with+Sharpies+and+Tin+Foil+_+A+Cool+Art+Project+for+Kids&utm_campaign=20160107_m129174077_RSS+Feed+for+http://happyhooligans_ca/feed&utm_term=Name+Art+with+Sharpies+and+Tin+Foil+_E2_80_93+A+Cool+Art+Project+for+Kids

http://artiswhatiteach.blogspot.ie/search?updated-max=2010-12-09T16:39:00-08:00&max-results=7

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=17674646&exhibit=497990&gallery=y

Memories can be documented through art- how about a word cloud? 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398005685788683507/

Self portraits are another way to celebrate the children and all they brought to the school!

http://www.mrsbrownart.com/4th.htm

http://ideas.tpet.co.uk/word-portrait/

Co-Operative Art Activities

"Hey
Any summer ideas or fun ideas 5th and 6th class could do as a  group art activity
Thank you"

Here are some co-operative art ideas, they will also be good to use in September for friendship development skills.

To complete a group activity in art- give each child a number and then instruct each number to make a mark on the page before beginning the activity. This removes the ownership of the piece by the perfectionist/ strong artist in the group and encourages process. (Thanks Eithne for this tip ;) )

This can be done as different tones of a colour to add an interesting element to it. 

Blindfolds are such a great resource to have. Vision is an interesting sense to remove from art!! Blindfold one child and get the others to instruct them in their drawing.

Increase the paper! Stick multiple big sheets of paper to the ground in the classroom with masking tape. Allow the children to paint the picture together.

Simply allowing them to 'paint a picture' may create disagreements. Write ideas on strips of paper and put in a box. Let one child from the group pick the idea from the box. Other inspiration may be sounds or tastes (alarm clock ringing/ eating a chilli) that the children respond to with line or shape.

Marbles

Get a big box and line it with paper.  Dip marbles/ tennis balls in paint. Let the children move the box to create a design on the paper.

Foot painting is another fun way of creating a group painting!

Silent Art. Each child has a different colour. One draws a line or shape on a page in their colour. Without talking, the other child then adds to that line. They continue until the page is full.

Create an art piece that will be used in a co-operative lesson. Sock puppets are one example. Then create a drama as a group after!

Creating a board with one overall theme. Each smaller group adding to the main board.

Forest School: Bow Saw and Forest School Medals

We began the lesson with our movement game; Beetle Tag. Everyone is on, and only the limbs can be tagged. When a limb is tagged, the child 'looses' that limb. They put the tagged arm across their chest/ hop on the opposite foot that was tagged. When all limbs are tagged, the child lies on their back like an upside down beetle. Another person can touch their forehead to release them.

Next we solved our leaf puzzles. Each child was given a leaf that had been torn, they out them back together. Some children wanted to bring the leaf to the tree it belonged to!

Mr. Earthworm

We have had the theme of a visiting earthworm throughout the whole Forest School experience! One day, long before I has started the framework, the boys came in from break with a earthworm on their football. They were disgusted and asked me to remove it! 

On our first Forest School lesson, an earthworm appeared in the centre of the circle. There were shrieks. I explained that we need earthworms for the soil and birds and that they were just trying to get back into the soil.

Last week the earthwork appeared again. The children were reminding others where the earthworm was and not to stand on him. 

Today, the earthworm appeared as we were putting our leaves together. The children decided to cover him with their leaves to protect him from the sun! What progress!! :) 

For the construction strand of visual arts we focused on constructing Forest School medals as this was our final session. 

We then used the bow saw to cut wooden discs or 'cookies'. We did this slowly and carefully as a group. I had some cookies prepared for the medals as I knew we wouldn't have time to cut enough in the session.

The children then used palm drills to create holes in the cookie. These are made from drill bits that have been secured in a solid wood (Holly).

They were then decorated with markers. Berries are a great natural dye if they are available! The medals were worn with pride! :) 

Blind Folded Painting

A colleague and a good friend took these photos and this is her lesson idea, but it was so good that I had to share with you all! Thank you Teresa! :)

Teresa did this lesson with her Senior Infants, but it can be used with other ages, my 1st Class loved it! 

One child is blindfolded and the other guides the painting. It puts the child back in the process and it's a very sensory experience. This lesson is great for Oral Language as well as cooperative learning.

Teresa displayed her work with these "Can you see what I see?" booklets. I love this idea to respond to visual art! 

Forest Schools, Whittling and Fire Making

This week we looked at whittling using food peelers. This is the introduction to knife use in Forest School. Until the children are older and more competent with how to use these they are not given knives. When they are, it is also introduced in a highly structured way.

The children found this process tricky, it was more challenging, but they enjoyed the process as you can see in this video!

My thoughts were that these 'tent pegs' could be used in creating construction projects in visual arts down the line...

I was conscious that I was balancing the curriculum objectives with the main principles of the Forest School framework. I'd like to have this skills spread out a bit more, but needed to include them in my 6 week sessions as part of my Forest School Leader qualification.

Fire Making was also created in a very safe environment- safety was of utmost importance, and the correct procedures were followed as learned at Forest School Leadership training. 

We used a fire steel, cotton wool and a scallop shell to light our small fires. 

Summer Art Inspiration

Whooo! The summer term is here! :) It's always an enjoyable term, the standardised tests are done, books (nearly) finished and there is more space to incorporate fun lessons into the timetable!

Here are some ideas that may be of use!

Underwater projects

This can be completed as a group on a noticeboard, or individually in shoeboxes. The children painted the shoebox and created the background. Mermaids and coral were made with plasticine and fish were hung from the top of the box with thread. 

Beach Scenes

My favourite thing to do is beach-comb in the summer. Sand, shells and seaweed can all be a great addition to any art project!

I gave each child a section of a photograph. They stuck it on the page- wherever they liked and added to the photo.

Here are some ideas I found online:

https://www.pinterest.com/bloglovin/

http://kidsartists.blogspot.ie/2010/07/sunglasses.html

I loved the idea of imagining the reflections in the sunglasses! This would be great to link with sun safety. My first class loved learning about how their eyes work! 

The Ocean

http://hative.com/handprint-footprint-crafts-for-kids/

While these are made with prints, the children would really enjoy painting pictures of mermaids- especially if you have some metallic paint to add some shimmer. 

How about making mermaid tails and/or shark fins and incorporating it into a drama lesson?! These could be really simple- cut out from large sheets of paper.

http://kidsartists.blogspot.ie/

Tearing paper is really effective when creating a sea scene.

http://www.homeschoolingmom4two.com/2014/03/TissuePaperFishCraft.html

Link fish art with the book "The Rainbow Fish".

Here's a cool project based on sharks!

http://www.sharkguardian.org/shark-and-whale-expo-at-harrow-international-school-with-the-year-2-children-4th-april-2012/

Bees

Summer is a great time to teach the children about the importance of bees. There are some great resources about the life of bees. 

http://msbarbarasblog.blogspot.ie/2013/04/beesa-preschool-study.html

I liked the hive/ shape of the beeswax in this one!

http://cahierjosephine.canalblog.com/archives/2014/03/27/29445283.html