An unconventional art-based learning activity, for the letter Mm

Unconventional is key here. Collages, especially the ones featuring bits of cut out images taken from every type of printed material available and then glued down in a particular way as to convey the artists intended message have been in practice since forever. Of course Harper only having ever made one collage thus far in her life would be psyched to start and finish this project in the old--fashioned way, I myself can’t make it thru another 2D assemblage. Which is why I decided to come up with a new twist to an otherwise forgone conclusion.

The purpose behind this activity is to help Harper recognize the letter M in every typeface, and there’s also a nice surprise element to this project for Harper as well.

So all you need to begin this project is:

1. Magazines, newspapers, etc.

2. Scissors ( age based for him or her).

Cut-outs complete, Now it’s time for the second part of this project, You’ll need to cover a piece of cardboard with whatever type of materials you want. You can cut-out any green you see In the magazines you already have out, use some green felt or both. Which Harper and I did, but really as with all our projects sky is the limit, you use whatever your, his or her little heart desires..

For the second part of this project, you’ll need the following items:

1. A piece of flat cardboard

2. Paper / Felt / etc. to cover the cardboard as it will serve as the landscape for your mountain to sit on. 3. Glue

4. Scissors

Landscape completed, we are now ready for our mountain. Harper and used bits of paper from magazines, an old piece of construction paper, a piece of green felt and some left over paper we painted green for a past dinosaur project to glue down for our landscape design. Once everything was glued down we let it dry over night.

Before starting this part you’ll need:

1. Hot Glue Gun

2. Long and short pop-sickle sticks

3. An X-Acto knife of sorts

Everything’s dry and your ready to begin constructing your Mountain. Were doing this with the help of pop-sickle sticks. To ensure a beautifully designed mountain, go ahead and figure out the circumference you want your mountain to be. Mark the measurement with a marker and now you have a guideline for the superficial incisions you’ll need to make into the cardboard. .For the maximum stability of your mountain range we’re going to add some hot-glue to the inside of each of the incisions you made…So glue Immediately followed by placing the popsicle stick into the flue. Hold the stick in place for at least 50 seconds, before continuing on to the next one.

With the first round of sticks firmly in place, we’re going to begin the second, and as Harper likes to say, It’s easy peasy, lemon squeezey! You‘ll want to use the long pop-sickle sticks again, attaching them right at the end with a dash of hot glue, as shown below.

Now that your mountain has taken shape, grab up your M’s and have fun making your 3-D collage:)

Keep on going until you have a mountain of M’s!

Since the mountain Harper visualizes when she hears the letter M is capped with snow…we cut white triangles and glued them around the top to give the snow cap feel. We gave the mountain a spin and Harper suggested that we decorate the landscape as well.

We rummaged through our art supplies and she pulled out the little green pom-poms along with some rhinestones she had and we went to work Creating some trees and bushes around her little mountain. There is no rhyme or reason right or wrong way to do this just have fun and go with it!

ENJOY AN OUTDOORSY E-LEARNING ART CLASS INDOORS WITH TRANSPARENCY PAPER

YOU’ll NEED:

1. Clean window

2. Transparency paper

3. Washable markers

4. Painter’s tape, to attach the paper to the window. ( Although, we were out, so we used band-aids instead:)

HARPER SHOWS YOU HOW ITS DONE.

SUNSHINE. PALMS AND PAINT. YES, PLEASE!

This project came about in a completely serendipitous way. It took a special holiday and a dog desperate enough for a game of catch, for me to view a patch of fallen palm sheaths I’d seen a million other times as anything other than debris for the landscapers. It was a week before Easter Sunday, Harper and I were outside walking the dog and trying to nail down some ideas for a new project. Fitz, who had gone potty and was keen on getting a little play-time in before we turned back towards the door, grabbed the closest thing to a stick and took off running with it in his mouth. Then as I watched his goofy butt run around with this huge thing in his mouth, I thought palm stick’s ( because at the time I wasn’t aware of the correct term) Palms for ‘Palm Sunday'....perfect. They're everywhere, they’re naturally recyclable and most importantly apart of the Palm Tree. So, we gathered the one’s we wanted and then begin to prep them for decoration.

Prepping: Rinse, scrub, and repeat until clean to the touch. Next, you'll want to find a place for them to completely dry out, ideally a sunny place as long as the elements cooperate, ( we moved ours to the porch once it began raining). Then onto Harps favorite part of our projects, buying the 'ART SUPPLIES' you know glitter, shiny paint, rhinestones, and colorful strings. Now, in my opinion, this project is the perfect thing to do with kiddos on Good Friday. They’re out of school and can kick off the holiday weekend with a little glitter and paint.

Once you’ve decorated your fallen palm sheaths to perfection allow 24 hours to completely dry and then come up with your favorite way to display them.