Collage Puppets

I love this playful use of collage. This project is far more conceptual rather than craft oriented. Listening to the children's ideas about the creatures and their creature powers is just so fun.

I start with a lot of images to choose from, images of animals, people ( I like to use people with costumes) and images of paintings and statues.  After choosing creature parts they just cut out all around the image and glue them down to card stock.

Then cut them out precisely. 

Punch holes where the body parts should be connected, add brass fasteners and a chop stick to the back with either hot glue or tape and Bob's your uncle.

Making SUSHI

This is an incredibly versatile clay project we did with children from ages 4 - 11 all sitting at the table working side by side each at their own skill level. We made sushi for hours with such an array of materials at the table. We had fabric, beads, rice, puff balls, little pieces of styrofoam, paper, some plastic leaves, glitter, plastic flowers, colored pasta. When setting up this project I slowly wandered through the studio looking for suitable materials, grabbing as many jars off the shelves as possible. I knew the more the kids had to choose from the better. Each student began with either a bento box made from a shoebox lid or with a sushi platter made from tongue depressors. 

With just a little bit of demonstration of flattening clay and rolling up fabrics inside as if it were seaweed, off the kids went, rolling, cutting, gluing, dipping, creating gorgeous and carefully designed little sculptures. They were getting ideas from each other and creating new ideas from the materials, beads as fish eggs, fabric as thin strips of carrot to wrap around a rice cake made from styrofoam, plastic leaves as salad. 

It was a glorious morning.