An Artist to Explore "Construction" with.

Alexander Calder was an American artist that created the mobile. His structures are very similar to mobiles hung above babies' cots. Many children in your class will relate to this. It might even be a great topic to cover if there's a new baby in the house!

Some of Alexander Calder's work.

Here are some responses to his work:

Calder's work is made of many shapes.  These could be explored in a "Drawing" lesson.

A soft, jewellery-like wire can be used to create sculptures. This is easy to manipulate and can be cut with wire cutters or a sharp scissors.

Both these activities could lead to the creation of a Calder inspired mobile. Wrap crepe paper or tissue around the wire to make the colourful shapes.

I also really like these creations! 

They remind me of the resources you might find in ReCreate Ireland. This is based in Ballymount in Dublin. They stock odds and ends from companies. If your school is registered, you can visit and fill up the car with all the resources. 

http://recreate.ie/

"ReCreate is a national social enterprise that takes end of line and surplus stock from businesses and reuses them as arts materials. Our warehouse is full to the brim with all types of fantastic arts materials such as paper, wool, plastics, fabric, tubing, foam and many other unusual and unexpected surprises."