How to Build a Snowman in South Florida

6th grade Art students helped build a large papier-mache snowman for our Winter Show in December. He ended up being about 4 feet tall. This was an after school project, though students were building their own smaller papier-mache creations in class.

Armature made from PVC pipe, black plastic bags stuffed with newspaper, and duct tape to hold it all together.  Two plumbing flanges are attached to the particle board base (not yet attached in this photo). The snowman and the pole (below) are both built around PVC for stability. Each PVC pipe slides over a metal pipe that's screwed into the flange.

We just used water and white glue (about half and half) for the paste. Since I don't have an Art room this year, we had to build him in the hallway. It gave us plenty of room to work, but the clean-up each day was not fun.

Papier-mached snowman with stick arms and the North Pole (haha). The pole is a cardboard mailing tube. I brought a snowflake tree topper that I've had for years, and we papier-mached it to the top of the pole. I cut the PVC down after we were finished so the snowman and the North Pole sat flush on the base. We left a bit of pipe while we were working for height.

Painted with white semi-gloss latex paint. We added a layer of Triple Thick mixed with glitter, as well, to make him sparkly. :)

Here he is finished, with Model Magic eyes and mouth, some festive winter accessories, and a few papier-mache critters made by 6th grade students. A student made the North Pole sign, as well.

Upper Elementary Hall Display

Below are a few photos of our hall display for grades 3-5. This case is right outside my classroom door. I wish I had room to put out more work!

On the top shelf are four relief prints. I need to get better shots of them and others that are in students' portfolios.

 

Paper sculpture is our introduction to form and 3-dimensional media. I was subjected to a sea of groans when I announced that we'd have to integrate a bit of math into our art room during this lesson. Students must measure, estimate, and visualize the outcome of their sculpture. Happy accidents are welcome, but the more a student is able to predict the final pop-up the more complex and successful the end result becomes. While it's a little tricky in the beginning, once students catch on they love it! 

This pop-up technique, called "Generations," was quite a hit. The idea for this lesson came from The Pop-Up Book, which I bought for myself a few years ago, but which has become quite useful in the classroom, as well. There are projects of varying skill levels, but most of them can adapted for use with 3rd-5th grade artists.

Following this project, I've kept paper and scissors for practice and experimentation in the "Inspiration Station" art center.

Vocabulary: form, sculpture, 2D/3D, shape, positive/negative space/shapes, gutter, crease

Guiding questions: 

• What is form?
• What is the difference between shape and form?

Here are only three examples. I'll try to get more photos up (there are tons still in the classroom).

Also in our display:

After studying gesture in pencil, students create one-line gesture sculptures in wire. This is another one that can be tricky, but once students get it they have a lot of fun with their wire sculptures.

Vocabulary: form, line, movement, gesture, coil, wrap, twist, proportion, balance