Monday, February 8, 2010

Green Art

Going green in the art room is very easy. Almost anything can be made into an art project. This past month the second and third graders have been involved in creating toys from found objects.

They were first asked to search for and bring found objects from their homes. A found object is anything that you have laying around that you no longer need. (These "useless" objects can range from bottle caps to old toys or even labels from cans of food.)

After they harvested these objects and bought them to the classroom, they were asked to think about what these things could be repurposed into. We watched a short three and a half minute video about recycled art (see link below) and then the fun began.

Each child was given $5.oo in Van Gogh Dough (fake classroom money) with which to purchase other found objects from my recycle cart. Scissors, glue, paint and collage items were on hand to enhance their projects. The children worked tirelessly to create the perfect toys. This sometimes involved a bit of experimentation until the art work was just right.

The end results were amazing! The children had a great time and I enjoyed watching the wheels turn in their minds as they created their fabulous green toys.

Click the arrow below the photograph to view your children hard at work. You can also follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p08mk5udmNg to view the video that we saw in class.

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