Ancient Egypt Projects - part 3

For the third edition of our social-distancing-based Ancient Egypt Projects, we decided to try to make a little sculpture of a falcon. Ours is inspired by some Ancient Egyptian artefacts, gold and turquoise falcon sculptures.

We started with pipe cleaners, masking tape and card stock base.

Then, we made a rough form of a falcon.

Next, we taped it in place and started to add masking tape to make it look more and more like a falcon. This type of sculpture involves adding on material to a frame. 

Keep adding tape until you are satisfied with how it looks. 

Now it is ready for paper mache. Just tear up some scrap paper, get some glue and water, and apply layers of the torn up paper dipped in the glue mixture with a paint brush. Cover the entire sculpture. 

Now it is ready to paint!

Here is our finished falcon. And we had so much fun, we made another one to try out different colours:

- Patrick

Ancient Egypt Projects - part 2

A series of Ancient Egyptian-inspired projects would not be complete without some pyramids! This is a simple activity and can be a lot of fun.

Start by using a ruler and pencil to draw a square-based pyramid net (see below) on cardboard;
then draw or paint on the pattern that the stones make;
next, cut it out and connect the sides together by folding and then glueing the tabs.

Square-based pyramid

- Patrick

Ancient Egypt Art Projects!

Being stuck at home with my kid due to this COVID-19 craziness has been a great opportunity to explore new arts and crafts projects. Some of these would work well in the classroom and as enrichment projects for different grade levels (for example: art for JK, SK, GR1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Social Studies for Grade 4...).

This will be the first fo several Ancient Egypt-themed arts and crafts ideas. "Melty Beads" is a great concentration craft and has served us well as a calm-down activity. This required an iron, and a "melty bead" kit (available online to order- or in most arts/crafts stores).

We started our Ancient Egyptian Gods series with a design of Horus, the falcon-headed God of the Sky. We added a sun behind him and chose the colour red to symbolize his domain.

We then chose the kind, crocodile-headed God of the Nile: Sobek. This was a lot of fun to do, trying to fit in a design of a crocodile head within the confines of the bead template. We chose light blue to represent the Nile river behind Sobek, and greens to show the lush vegetation growing along the river.

A highlight of Ancient Egyptian culture, the sarcophagus, was a natural choice for another image. We noticed that Ancient Egyptians used a lot of stripe patterns in their work, so we added some ours.

Then we did an image of Bastet, the cat Goddess of the home and fertility. We added the Great Pyramids as a pattern at the bottom as well.

Lots of fun, and a great calm-down activity that keeps kids enjoying concentrating, working with colour, pattern and creative expression and building fine-motor skills and hand-eye coordination- as well as enhancing their interest in Ancient Egyptian culture.

- Patrick

White Spruce: an Art and Science Studio Project

This is a pen and ink drawing of a white spruce (picea glauca) tree from my neighbourhood. It is an old one, taller than a four-storey building. 

A good studio project that combines art and science is to try to draw a specific tree species, where the student researches details about their tree, such as:

- is the species native to the region?

- what to the needles/leave/cones/seeds look like?

- what does the bark look like?

- how old does it typically get?

- how tall does it typically get?

- what is the scientific name for the type of tree?

Then the class can do a gallery walk and learn about different kinds of trees and how to differentiate between them. After, if the project works out, this could make a great art show!

- Patrick

Magic Tree

I've suggested this idea before, and I'm sure I will use it again, but a great studio project can start with the prompt: something that you pass everyday. This is also a good way to train the eye to see magic and beauty in the world. For me, I find it in the parks and trails of Toronto.

Here is a recent example:

Inktober Highlights

During the month of October, many artists attempt a global art challenge: Inktober- to do one ink drawing every day for the whole month. This is a great art studio project.

A few years ago, I complete the challenge and I did it again this year. Although many of the ink drawings are quick and rushed, the point is to have fun, get into good drawing habits and find new ways of working with ink. Here are a few of the highlights from this year:

- Patrick

Happy Halloween! Symmetrical Pumpkin Project

It's been a busy fall! I just finished Inktober (doing one ink drawing a day for the month of October). I highly recommend this challenge - and it may be a fun class project for higher grades. For the younger grades, my class had a great time doing these Symmetrical Pumpkins.

We've just started 2D Geometry in Math, so this project is great way to practice symmetry and to celebrate Halloween with a fun craft project. This is also a great way to introduce the concept of negative space. 

Step 1: Draw half a pumpkin on a half sheet of orange construction paper.

Step 2: Cut out the pumpkin and then the eye and the mouth. *Keep all the pieces of orange paper*

Step 3: Flip and glue the orange pieces onto the full piece of black construction paper. 

Patrick