Expressive Arts Newsletter for April 1999.

ArtExpress

All Around the Sites

Volume 3

Issue 8

April 1999

Classroom Activities

Make a Fresco like Michelangelo

Cheryl Pilcher (Lafayette Center, Dist 117, Early Years, Pre-K) now has a double sided easel in her classroom. She says, "What fun! The children can paint side-by-side or paint long pictures."

Other art activities in the classroom include painting with a Salad Spinner, adding Kool-aid to play dough for color and smell, and working with real clay. (Just read a wonderful article in the current issue of NAEYC's Young Children on introducing real clay into early childhood classrooms. Although clay may not be appropriate for young children who need to "taste" new materials, we are including a copy of the article with the ArtExpress Newsletter.)

Cheryl said when using the Salad Spinner, her children did lots of "experimenting" with colors&emdash;adding water to the paint to make it spatter better. They also used their "cooperating skills" as they helped each other hold the bowl and took turns counting to 10 before the next child's turn. Cheryl says the results were very pretty.

Michelangelo used an art technique called "fresco," which means painting on fresh, wet plaster on a wall or ceiling. The following activity idea was submitted by MaryAnn F. Kohl, maryann@brightring.com, http://www.brightring.com/books on Getty's Discipline-Based Arts Education listserve.

"My Discovering Great Artists" book has a Fresco activity, page 24, called 'Fresco Plaque,' highlighting a Michelangelo project. I have found that any plaster of Paris works well, but it should be 'fresh,' and not old. Sometimes the boxes in stores are all faded and dusty, so that would be your first clue!

Mix the plaster in a container that can be thrown in the trash later, like a milk carton or even a rubber playground ball cut in half (it's so easy to empty!!). Do not rinse ANY plaster down the drain. All plaster residue must go in the trash or into the garden.

In a nutshell: This project suggests that you pour plaster into a mold, such as a cardboard box, a pie tin, or a heavy paper plate. Smooth the plaster with a stick. Insert a hanging device like a paper clip at this time. Let the plaster set up briefly so that it is damp but not wet. Gently remove the mold from around the plaster. Paint with watercolor paints or thinned tempera paints on the wet plaster. Let the plaster dry overnight."

Movement!

Children can express their thoughts and feeling through creative movement in the classroom. Movement does not need to be structured in the form of "dance." Many options exist for children to communicate using their bodies as expressive instruments. For those inexperienced with this form of expression, we suggest the use of art, poetry, stories, or life situations as the springboard for an expressive movement activity. It can be as simple as presenting the material and asking the children, as individuals or in a group, to respond to the work through movement. An example would be to read a piece of poetry and ask the children how it made them feel and ask to see a movement that would reflect that feeling. Or, have each child display their artwork and communicate through movement a mental image in response to the art. If the drawing was a bear, the child might display large strong actions resembling those of a bear. Each child will respond in a different way reflecting individual interpretation of the art work.

To extend this type of activity include rhythm instruments and/or a CD of children's songs.

Following are resource ideas for making your own instruments and a CD for children's art song:

Clacker Boards-Cut two pieces of board to the same size. At the end of each board drill two holes. The boards are joined by lacing cord or wire through the holes. The children can decorate the boards.

Cup Shaker-Cover the bottom of a paper or plastic cup with small beans o stones. Place another cup on top with opening rims facing each other. Tape the cups together at the rim and invite children to decorate.

Suggested Audio CD-Rolls, Anne. (1997). Pick your favorite art song for children. [CD]. USA: Teacher's Pets. Song titles include: Sail Away Ladies, Bow, Belinde, Go tell Aunt Rhody, Oh dear, what can the matter be?, Kitty alone and I, Leatherwing Bat, Water is Wide, and many more.