Tag Archives: easy

Pop Art

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pop artIt’s a fusion of form and function as a classic self-portrait is transformed into bubbly pop art. Don’t miss the gallery at the bottom of this post!

We read Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist, written by Ruth Spiro and illustrated by Thor Wickstrom (Dutton Juvenile, 2008). Everyone in Lester’s family (Frieda, Winslow, Cornell, Pablo, and Georgia) is an artist, but Lester just can’t seem to find his medium. Then one day, during a visit to Uncle Edgar’s studio, Lester discovers his amazing talent for creating art with pink bubble gum bubbles. Confidence growing, he decides to enter the art competition at his school. But disaster strikes when Lester loses a front tooth on the big day! Fortunately, recalling a bit of artistic wisdom, Lester is able to rally and produce the most tremendous bubble ever.

You’ll need:

  • 1/2 sheet of white poster board (approximately 14″ x 22″)
  • Multiple pieces of tagboard or brown poster board
  • 2 small pieces of white poster board (approximately 1″ x 1.5″)
  • Hole punch
  • 1 piece of yarn (approximately 10″)
  • A box cutter
  • A selection of multicultural construction paper
  • A selection of construction paper
  • 1 pink balloon
  • 1 pencil
  • Markers for decorating
  • Scissors, glue stick, tape, and hot glue for construction

The project begins with the creation of your portrait frame. We prepped the following tagboard (or brown poster board) pieces in advance:

frame piecesIf it helps, here are their approximate sizes:

Top piece: 3.5″ x 8.5″
Corner pieces: 3.5″ x 3.5″
Side pieces: 2″ x 14″
Bottom piece: 2″ x 8.5″

The frame pieces were laid out on top of the white poster board “canvas.” Then we encouraged the kids to customize the corners and sides by shaping them with their scissors. A corner, for example, could be shaped into something a little more delicate:

cornerAnd the sides could be given a bit of a curve:

frame sideThen, we invited the kids to select some “frame doodads” from a big pile to bulk up their frames. We were very proud of our doodad pile. Here are a few of our lovely choices:

various doodadsUse markers to create scrolls, lines, and shapes on your frame pieces (metallic Sharpie markers worked great too). Then use a glue stick to attach the pieces to the poster board canvas.

finished frameThe last step for the frame is adding your “hangers” (you can see them sticking out of the top of the frame in the image above). To create the hangers, take two small white poster board pieces, punch holes in them, and then hot glue them to the back of the canvas like this:

hangersKnot the ends of the yarn in each hole, and the frame is ready to hang. The only thing that’s missing, of course, is the portrait! Use the regular and multicultural construction paper to create a shirt, face and hair. Draw the facial features with markers. I brought out the Bling Bin for artistic embellishments as well.

Now all you need is bubble gum! Use the box cutter to cut a slit in the portrait’s mouth, then poke the pencil through the slit to enlarge it. The goal is to make a hole large enough for the mouth and neck of the balloon to go through.

Starting on the outside of the portrait (i.e. the finished side) push the mouth and neck of the balloon through the hole to the other side. Here’s what the back of your portrait should now look like:Stand behind the portrait and blow into the balloon. Your portrait will blow a bubble! You can also blow up the balloon, knot it, push it through hole in the portrait, and hang it on a wall to admire your work from afar.

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D is for Dragon

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d is for dragonDragons are always popular at our story times. Who doesn’t love a dragon? This dragon is simple to construct, but allows plenty of room for creativity.

We read East Dragon, West Dragon written by Robyn Eversole and illustrated by Scott Campbell (Atheneum Books, 2012). The East Dragon and the West Dragon lives on opposite sides of the earth, but both have heard of the others’ long tail, mighty wings, and massive fire power. So they stay away from each other. However, after a funny political mishap (involving dragon-paranoid knights and the introduction of the honorable court dragons of the East) the two dragons must meet to sort out the mess – and rescue each other in the process. They become great friends and throw the ultimate dragon party.

You’ll need:

  • 1 box (I used a 9” x 4 ½” X 4 ½” white craft box, but a large tissue box works too)
  • 1 dragon head template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ white card stock
  • 1 wings template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ white card stock
  • White poster board pieces for tail and legs
  • A selection of eye stickers
  • A selection of color masking tape
  • Pipe cleaners
  • A selection of construction paper
  • Gold heavy weight paper for wings (optional)
  • Markers for decoration
  • Scissors and scotch tape for construction

Since I was going to run this program without an assistant, I prepped the head, wings, legs, and tails in advance.

You can certainly use the head and wings templates as they are – meaning,  printed on card stock. However, since I knew I would be using color masking tape and other weighty art materials, I traced the head template onto poster board, and the wings onto gold faux leather paper I had left over from another program.

After you’ve cut the dragon’s head from them template, fold it along the little dotted line to create the “nose.”

little dotted lineThen fold the thicker dotted lines at the base of the neck outwards. This creates the tabs that allow you to tape the dragon’s head to its body. And don’t forget the sticker eyes!

fold tabs outCut the tail and legs from poster board. My tail was about 3.5″ x 14.5″ and the legs were 1.5″ x 5″

tail and legDuring the story time, we decorated the box first, then we decorated the head, tail, and legs before we taped them on the box. After all of those items were attached, we added pipe cleaner “horns,” construction paper spines, wings, and I brought out the Bling Bin for some extra touches (and, as always, the hot glue gun was ready and waiting)!

During story time, I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of this marvelous dragon, with its super-special mobility modification…

dragon feetWish I had thought of that!

Fly You High

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flying booksWe brought this flying book craft to a community event. It’s simple to prep, easy to make, and the smile you get when a finished book “flies” off the table is priceless!

You’ll need:

Start by cutting the construction paper into quarters, resulting in four, 4″ x 6″ rectangles. 1 rectangle = 1 book cover. Next, cut the standard white paper into quarters, resulting in four, 4.5″ x 5.5″ rectangles. The white paper rectangles will be the pages of your book. Fold two white paper rectangles into the construction paper cover and staple it to create a book.

Punch a hole in the top of the book, about 1″ away from the spine. Then run a piece of patterned tape (or color masking tape) down each side of the book to create a “spine.” Or, you can skip this step and simply use markers to decorate the spine and cover of the book.

book spine step 2One boy wanted to make a “monster” book, so I created a spiky spine on his book using color masking tape. To make a spiky spine, stick one piece of tape right on edge of the spine. Repeat on the other side. Press the tape together.

monster spine step 1Then cut out the monster spines!

monster spine step 2Use the markers to customize your wings, then attach a wing to each side of the book with glue dots. Finish by running a piece of elastic beading cord through the punched hole, loop the ends together, and knot. Dangle, flip, jiggle, and swoop your book at the end of the cord for full-on flying action!

book spine step 2