Students create a small log cabin from a cardboard box base. The peaks are cut to accept a pitched roof; then doors and windows are cut into the boxes. Just as the settlers harvested their logs, students forage for twigs that will be cut to size, assembled and glued to resemble log cabin siding. Sheets of cardboard are painted light brown, and wood grain is hand drawn for roofing. Cut individual shingles, then layer and glue the small pieces on a cardboard roof base in the same pattern used on historical homes. To finish the log cabins, plastic wrap can be used to simulate windows, which can be cut to open and shut like the cabin door.
Students will enjoy trying their hand at this Indian coil method of creating pottery. Using self-hardening materials, the children will roll their clay into rope-shaped forms in preparing to make pencil cups. Next they will place a clean paper coffee filter over a water glass, coil their clay up the sides of the cup and then cover the bottom of the cup with additional coil. To smooth, students will rub and blend the coils into a more continuous surface. When finished, they will slip the glass out of the paper, and then remove the paper from the inside of the clay. Complete final smoothing and air dry for several days. To complete the pencil cup, use acrylic paints in Indian patterns and finish with an all-purpose sealer.
For this math-oriented project, each student will be given nine two-inch wood blocks to create painted multiple-surface puzzles. Multiple paintings will be required to cover each of the six sides of the wood blocks. The students will assemble the blocks in a three-by-three flat pattern, then tape around the outer perimeter to keep the blocks together while the students paint their designs. The finished product will be a multiple-surface wood block puzzle with six hand-painted works of art.
Felt, scissors, glue and a wood rod are the materials required for this quick and easy art project. Each student will be asked to make a wall hanging with geometric shapes cut from different colors of felt and glued to a colorful felt base in a spontaneous abstract pattern. To finish, the students will fold and glue the top edge of the artwork around a wood rod, leaving enough of the rod exposed on either side of the piece for hanging.