Styrofoam Block Prints

These were soooooo neat, but it was near the end of school and I didn't get enough photos.  So, here's how we did it.  I collected styrofoam trays from vegetables I had bought at the store.  These are usually a little thicker and work better than the thinner styrofoam dinner plates.  Then I made a slideshow (I share these if anyone is interested) to give the students lots of different ideas.  They sketched the one or two they chose onto paper.  

Next, they sketched them onto the styrofoam (after we had cut off the edges to make sure that it would lay flat), using a ballpoint pen.  The indentations are the white spaces that make the design.  (See the two examples below.)

The top one is different, though. The trick with this one was that after the student had made his sketch, he indented everything but the sketch, making it stick out from the styrofoam.  The result is really neat.  

After making a few trial runs, the students made repeated prints with their styrofoam blocks, blotting them on sponges brushed with acrylic paint.  

 

More Ideas for Your Art Classes

     This summer I'm also looking forward to Teachers Week at Faith Builders.  It's one of my favorite weeks of the year.  Last summer we completed the following projects in the art class.

* watercolor leaves with white crayon background patterns (we used real leaves - see photo #4) 

* mini wooden painted houses (made out of wood scraps I gleaned from a cabinet shop)

* Iris paper folding 

* 3D black popsicle geometric shapes 

*  bold, bright and colorful names (gleaned from Cassie Stevens) 

Making Plans for the Summer?

      Teachers work hard from August until May preparing lessons, presenting lessons, grading papers, and most importantly, making sure that our students are safe.  We are responsible for all of them for about seven hours a day.  That's a big responsibility.  

      So, when the end of May arrives, we all deserve a break that we have heartily earned.  While I always take a few days off just to relax and refocus, I also plan to spend my time in ways that will enrich my teaching in some way, whether that is musically, academically (hunting for sea shells is scientific), or artistically.  Here is how I spent last summer, and this is pretty much how this summer looks as well.  

We spent our anniversary in St. Augustine, Florida.  Besides climbing all 219 steps and enjoying the view from the top of the lighthouse, I found some interesting books.

We found a wonderful coffee shop that was surrounded by beautiful art, and a few museums too.  

 

     Music camp has been a part of our lives for almost fifteen years now, and every summer I look forward to meeting new people and singing new songs.  

Ontario youth choir 

Virginia mass choir  (video link here)

Ohio youth choir 

Lancaster music camp 

      And it's always good to learn something new.  At the Ohio music camp, some of the students usually organize a flash mob, and because most of the eating establishments are closed by the time our last rehearsal has ended, they also decide to have a "cereal party."  This was a new experience for us.  Someone buys bowls, someone else spoons, someone else milk, and then a few more buy a box or two of their favorite cereal.  Then we all sit on the grass at the back of the Walmart parking lot, eat cereal, laugh, and listen to stories.  

. 

And we celebrated the tenth year anniversary of the Anabaptist Orchestra.  

Catching up with some friends I went to school with in Texas from fourth grade through high 

school was fun too.

Also in Texas, I learned how to play Mexican train. 

And here are some photos of those museums I mentioned earlier.