Holiday Fun with Delight Air Dry and Creative PaperClay

Anyone who follows my blog posts knows that I am an Art Teacher to ages PreK-8th grade.  the students LOVE when I pull out the clay for a project!  For today's blog post I will highlight some mixed media art projects that can be created with a variety of ages.  Of course, any of the projects could be amped up by older children and adults, but I don't think there is anything better than appreciating the talent of youngsters.

First up, Day of the Dead Shrines that I created with my 8th graders.  This project took 3-4 weeks (1hr class periods) to complete.

Class 1: Students began the project by creating a box bottom (with tabs) from thin cardboard (cereal box, breakfast bar box, etc.).  An Altoid tin was used for sizing.  Once the base was completed, decorating the inside of the shrine began.  Students used scrapbook paper, recycled book pages, washi tape, and other materials to decorate the inside and give the figure an interesting backdrop.

Class 2: Delight Air Dry day!  Students were given the same amount of Delight Air Dry Modeling Compound to create the figures for their shrines.  They were shown how to dab the surface with watercolor markers and mix the color into the clay to add color where desired.  Many of the students left the clay white since they were creating skeletons, but look closely at the projects and you will see color details (a rose, a hat, a bow, etc.).  I have only chosen a few examples to share.  Other details (eyes, facial details, mustaches) were added to the figures with ultrafine Sharpie after the pieces dried. 

The figures were set aside to dry until the next class period.  Then students continued work on bases and began creating the lid (or top) of the shrines with any remaining class time.

Class 3:  Students completed the shrines: Finetuning the details, gluing figures in place, gluing the lid onto the tabs, and adding glitter glue details (is there anything better than bling?!).  I was thrilled with the results and all of the students seemed pleased.  

 

 

 

 
I lied...had to share all of them 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Is there any wonder why I couldn't share just a few??  I love the humor that many students added to individual shrines (please notice that even Star wars made an appearance).

Next up, my 6th graders created Nativity scenes featuring the Holy Family.  These students completed the project in three 45 minute class periods.  They began by painting canvases using watercolors.  Once complete, we sprinkled salt onto the wet canvas and set them aside to dry until the next class.  Next class, they were given Delight Air Dry clay and directions for adding color (just like the 8th graders).  With that, they were off and running!

 

I forgot to mention that some of the students added "sand paint" to the bottom of the canvases.  What is sand paint?  Literally, sand mixed into the paint.  Students used a popsicle stick to spread it onto the bottom of their canvases to give added dimensional detail to the finished pieces.

The final touches came in the 3rd class as students completed the scenes, glued figures to the canvas, and added glitter glue star details (you knew the bling had to creep in somehow).

 

 

Final class to share: My Kindergarteners
For the Kindergarten project, we took four 35 minute class periods to complete!  In the first class, they created value paintings using white and one other color of their choosing.  We had blue, black, purple, and red skies!  Value painting started with the students painting a white moon somewhere towards the top of the canvas.  Then the brush was dipped into the darker paint and mixed into the white before painting around the moon.  The step was repeated until the whole canvas was completely painted.  As you can imagine, some got it while others just enjoyed the process of painting.
Class #2, the students were given popsicle sticks to color and glue in place to form a stable.  I love kindergarten technicolor stables!  Not a brown wood stable anywhere to be found.
Class #3, the kindergarteners were given Creative PaperClay.  I chose Creative PaperClay for them because I thought mixing colors into the delight would end up with "mud" rather than individual colors.  It also allowed focus on fine-motor skills of rolling, shaping, and squashing.  Pieces were left in place on the canvases to dry.
Class #4, the dried figures were taken off the canvases to paint and then glued back in place.  Of course, glitter glue stars were added.

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my talented students at work and learning that these amazing products (Delight Air Dry Modeling Compound and Creative PaperClay) are perfect for use in the classroom setting.  

Halloween Scenes with Creative PaperClay

Hello again!  This month I bring you Halloween scenes from my Middle School polymer clay after-school program.  I offer clay sessions 4 times a year.  This is the first, running from September-October, with 6 one hour classes in the session.  I never know how many students will take advantage of the after-school program.  This time around I have 4, which is a joy when you consider I normally have a classroom full (20-30 students) during my "normal" class times.

I introduced the students to foil armatures and Creative PaperClay to start the session.  With a variety of ability levels, I was pleased to see all of them take to the project so easily.  We began with sketches of what each envisioned for individual scenes.  After that, it was time to get to work!

I handed them each a large piece of foil.  I demoed how to scrunch the foil (carefully) into the basic tree trunk shape.

The top was then torn into a few sections and scrunched (yes, that is the technical term) into branches.

 

I encouraged them to create the shape slowly.  Foil can be compacted more as the desired shape emerges.  They excited got to work on their trees.

 

Now the fun part: Covering the armature in Creative PaperClay.  I showed them how easy it is to use, flattening pieces with my fingers or a rolling pin. 

I also showed them how areas can be smoothed out by dipping a finger into water and rubbing over the spot that needs a tweak. 

They all got to work.

 

 

  Soon we had 4 amazing haunted trees!  A couple of the students also created accessories for their scenes from the PaperClay: a tombstone, a creepy hand coming out of the tree, a tiny mouse friend.  All were set aside to dry until the next class.  

The plan was to paint the trees and then start on accessories for the scene, but all decided to work on polymer pieces before painting.  I have to admit it was a great decision on their parts, because when we finally painted the trees and glued them to ceramic tile bases the scenes were able to come to life! 

Let the painting commence...

 

 

Once the trees and accessories were painted it was time to begin to put scenes together (goodie!!).
Pieces were positioned and glued.  Some (notice the swing) were hung in place. 

Do you see Hannah's mouse?  Such teeny tiny details created from the Paperclay!

  Check out the swirly detail in Nia's tree!  She designed many of the swirls with open centers to hang pieces.

Isabelle had to have a swing (one of our engineering challenges).  I think it worked out great!  

Peter still wants to add a few touches.  His tombstone needs to be glued in place, but first, he wanted to create a hill type base for it (back to the Creative PaperClay).  I hope you can see the creepy hand reaching out of the tree towards Shrek!

I was so excited to watch the excitement as the original sketches came to life!  All but one looked and decided a few more touches are needed.   I am super excited about what they accomplished.  I can hardly wait to see what these talented students come up with next!