May 01, 2010

Earth Day wrap up

This past week I have been up to my ears in recycling. And that's just a bit more than usual...

I was the artist in 'residence' at my kids school. The whole second grade was involved, which meant six classes. I worked with two a day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
It turned out to be quite fun for the kids and me and the parents helping out. We made art from non recyclables, which are items that are not recyclable in our town - mainly wrappers, packaging, plastics and lots of bottle caps. Originally I had planned to have the kids choose from three projects to make. So glad I scrapped that idea! It was much better to present them with a few examples, show them the treasure trove of materials and let them create. They have quite wild imaginations those second graders...

The kids collected materials for a week in their classrooms and then I came in with the materials I collected. We got out the glue, the scissors, the tape and staplers and worked, worked, worked!
Here are a few examples of what they created.We had variations of trees and a even a bird house. Very conceptual... Towers were all the rage in several classrooms. Future architects?This genius made a plane! Quite a few girls tried their hands at jewelry. There was an assortment of adorable creatures. And of course there were plenty of cars... Here's our display case in the lobby of the school. We were limited on space and height (no towers here), so I had to be the jury in the end. But quite a few kids wanted to take their projects home, so my choices were limited and hopefully I have not hurt anyone's feelings.

6 comments:

Lynn Cohen said...

Absolutely LOVE what you have done here, and what THEY have done. Got a kick out of the Cherrio box with arms and legs. A person.
Clever kids, wonderful motivating teacher, you!

Gerrie said...

What a great project! Great job my you and those creative second graders.

sukipoet said...

such fun for them and for you. love the ideas they came up with. (your town doesnt recycle fiber board-- such as in TP rolls and cereal boxes????) Even up here in the boonies those things can go in one hug bin along with neswpapers (I dont really understand how/why they can be mixes as in other towns i've lived in these items have to be recycled separately.)

Elizabeth said...

What fabulous fun!! Keeping a box full of left over bits and recyclables as an Imagination Box is such a wonderful way to teach and stimulate young imaginations!! Fostering creativity is something that kids need so much more of!! Bless you for sharing your gifts with these kids- Iam sure your time with them will be treasured and looked back on for a very long time!!!!

Vivien Zepf said...

Excellent, excellent, excellent. I especially like Cheerio Man and the egg carton caterpillar!

Julaine said...

Love it! I, too, work with children and am constantly reminded of their own creativity and how free they are in their art...