leaves & city blocks

In y1 we wove, using paper strips, some 'Autumn' leaves.

Today the y6's made slab container city blocks (after James Rizzi). We'll bisque fire them and then carefully (!) paint using acrylics.

automatons & stories

In y3 we have continued with our lever mechanisms and gone 3d! We've also turned linear motion into rotational movement!
The first pic shows Shrek panicking when he is being chased by the dragon whilst the second is a goalie making a save. The characters rotate clockwise/anticlockwise as the lever is pulled/pushed.  I must try and get videos of them in action.

In FS1 (3/4yr olds) they are looking at 'Goldilocks & the 3 bears'. We made little booklets of the story - including the cottage in the woods and Goldilocks herself.

bears & cityscapes 2

The y1's have been reading 'Peace at Last' by Jill Murphy. So we decided to have a go at drawing bears - they did a 'before' picture and then with some simple guidance as to shapes they created some much more recognisable images.

They then used clay to sculpt some semi-relief bears, using similar shapes.

The y6's have followed up their James Rizzi inspired sketches with 3d card models. We've decided the next step is to create them in clay! we might even go so far as to create slab containers and paint them in a 'James Rizzi' style!!

Printing

Today the y2's used potatoes for printing. I managed to find some wooden knives that proved more than up to the task of creating patterns on the cut surfaces without being too sharp. 

After some experimentation we ended by printing 'Autumnal' leaves - which we will use next week on collage pieces.

self portraits 2

The clay faces sculpted by our y1's are dry and have been mounted on thick card. They've also received a coat of thinned down PVA to help keep all of the bits together, especially the finely modelled hair! Here's hoping they remain intact when they're hung on the wall.

queen of hearts

Our FS2 children are learning the 'Queen of Hearts...tarts' rhyme this week, so to aid their retelling we made little representational figures. A strip of paper folded and stapled for the body and a square of card slotted in for the head. You could embellish to your hearts (!) content, add arms, feet and also make the knave & king figures should you so wish.

more levers

The y4's made even more complex mechanisms today where levers move in opposite directions.

This example shows that when you pull the leg the duck 'quacks'! Quite understandably in my opinion.