printing & sculpture

Our y5/6s have embarked on a short printing unit. They started off by using polyprint to create simple alternating patterns.

And some clay sculptures (over pipecleaner armatures). The middle one reminds me of John Travolta for some reason!

We knew the air-dry clay would crack - we'll just paint over them.

Tudor houses, Greek sculpture & forest schools!

Yesterday the y4's continued to construct their 'Tudor' houses by assembling the panels of the lower storey.

Y3's made wood and wire armatures in readiness for next week when we'll wrap them with mod-roc.

At school today we had a Forest School event. 'Forest School' is really an updated version of what used to be called Nature Study. We have a huge area behind our school that has trees, large open spaces, even a stream(!), that the children utilise to enhance their learning across a whole host of curriculum areas. In y3 we used clay to make faces - the premise was that the Ancient Greeks believed that trees had spirits (Dryads) - so we made representations of them on the actual trees. The activity certainly brought out the creative sides of both the children and their parents!

dinosaur(2)

Another pic drawn by a y2 child yesterday. 

And almost right with the spelling!

dinosaurs

Y2 have started studying dinosaurs so of course today we used a letter 'A' to draw some!

They drew a 'before' picture at the start (top left) before following simple instructions to create lots of different dinosaur.

Some of these are detailed in my book 'A is for Art' along with step by step guides on how to draw almost anything - copies available in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

Dresden

Back to work for the last stint! Over half term my wife and I visited Dresden. Those who know their history will understand the significance of this German city. Considering the damage that was inflicted in February 1945 the altstadt (old town) has been amazingly restored. We were even more taken aback when we discovered that most of the rebuild has only taken place over the last 15 years or so! Up until the 'wall' came down this church was still a pile of rubble. 

Fortunately, a lot of the treasures in the museums had been removed during the war and have since been returned. A beautiful, friendly city and very easy to get around - recommended!

textiles

Yesterday in textiles club we finished our padded keyrings - made as Father's day gifts.

sewing

Today in y1 we stitched images of flowers. Using wool, plastic needles and a piece of pre-punched card we carefully sewed flowers, stalks, leaves and grass. It was the first time the children had sewn and, using tremendous powers of concentration, they managed to do a fantastic job.