Summer Art Class Projects

Air dry clay "food" that was painted to look realistic. This project focused on different construction techniques such as slab rolling, coil construction, pinch pot construction, and addition.

I decided to create two summer art classes that were each a week long through Community education in my district. The first class was called "Art Around the World" and featured projects such as a chinese lantern, making didgeridoos out of PVC pipe, and multicultural paper mache masks. The second class was called "Arts & Crafts Camp" and I definitely think this class was my favorite. The Arts & Crafts camp really let student's imaginations run wild and create some really cool art! Each class included students from the ages of 9 to 13. If you've never taught a community ed art class before, you should know it's a blast! No tests, no standards, just a room full of art supplies and enthusiastic students. For any other interested art teachers out there, I included the schedules for each class's days below for your reference.

Art Around the World
Day One- Mexican Folk Art terra cotta pots & Paper mache mask
Day Two- Australian Didgeridoos made out of PVC pipe with a beeswax mouthpiece
Day Three- African Adinkra printmaking on t-shirts
Day Four- Ukrainian painted eggs & Russian architecture metal tooling
Day Five- Chinese Calligraphy lantern & Free Art Time

Arts & Crafts Camp
Day One- Cardboard Challenge & Leather tooling/stamping
Day Two- Travel Posters & Clay food
Day Three- Dada-inspired lamp & Drawing to Music
Day Four- Metal tooling & painting clay food to look realistic
Day Five- Junk Sculptures & Hot glue fancy frames

Check out the photos below to see all of the cool art we created & tips for doing the same!

Clay food painted with tempera paint. The straw for the soft drink was cut from a q-tip. The student used a red sharpie to make the lines on the straw. Too cool!

Metal tooled tiles. Cut 38 gauge aluminum metal into 6"x6" squares. The foil I purchased was from Dick Blick and came in 12"x25 ft rolls for around $16. Fold a 1/2" over on each side to prevent injury. Use a blunt pencil to tool designs. I had students draw their design on scratch paper first and then put their paper over the metal and traced to transfer. Use colored sharpie to highlight the areas you tooled. You can also turn the metal over for an embossed effect.

Metal tooled owl and tree. Hole punch holes in the top to add string or wire for hanging.

Dada-inspired mason jar lamps. We looked at a variety of different Dadaist artworks and I instructed students to choose a certain theme for the artwork. Some themes included, "Kids", "Save animals", "Be green", etc.

The lamps were created using pint size mason jars, socket light switch kit ($3.99 at Menards or other hardware store), modge podge, tacky glue, and an assortment of magazines and newspapers. Students decoupaged their cut outs onto the lamp using the tacky glue and modge podge. Some students used shredded up tissue paper and decoupaged the tissue paper to the inside of their lamp for a cool background. We used a nail to pound a hole into the lid and then used tin snips to cut a larger hole (this was mostly done by me due to sharp edges). Then the sock was inserted into the hole and a nightlight bulb placed inside that! The original project idea was for a hanging lamp, but some students designed their lamp to sit on a table. We simple cut a small notch in the lid for the cord, so the lamp could sit level. This was probably my student's favorite project!

The first day we did the Cardboard Challenge. This was kind of a "get-to-know-you" activity for students. Students had to create ANYTHING out of cardboard using only scissors and glue (and later paint). This student spiraled cardboard strips and glued them together for a cool wall sculpture!

I had an assortment of different leather pieces and tons of tooling supplies for students to practice. Some students made necklaces and other students made key chains. I've never heard a class so quiet and focused on their work!

Junk sculpture bird with a leftover Ukrainian egg from the last class :)

A flock of junk sculpture geese using old christmas lights, bottle caps, pen caps, crayons, and toilet paper tubes.

A wiper blade with google eyes. Fantastic.

Hot glueing designs onto wooden frames. I won the 4x5" frames from an art conference!

Painting the hot glued frames.

Finished hot glued frame that had been "distressed" with some of the paint rubbed off.

Metal tooling of Russian architecture for my Art Around the World class.

Ukrainian paper eggs. We discovered a cool way to hold the eggs was using a plastic cup, letting the paint dry, and then flipping it over. The eggs were 4" paper mache eggs purchased at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents each. We used q-tips for the dots.

A cool way to work on the didgeridoo was actually discovered by accident! We placed didgeridoos on sturdy, over-turned chair legs so we didn't have to worry about smearing paint. 1 1/2" schedule 40 PVC was used and cut in a variety of lengths from 3.5 ft to 5.5 ft. Students sanded the PVC and then painted at least two coats of acrylic paint onto the PVC. Next, students took q-tips and paint to create aboriginal-inspired dot paintings on their didgeridoo. The last step was adding melted beeswax to the top to create a mouthpiece and a few beads/feathers for decoration. This project was student's favorite from the Art Around the World class!

My own didgeridoo made out of PVC! Learning to play the didgeridoo wasn't too hard and I played some how-to videos for my students while we finished. Some students caught on really quick!