Craft a Paper Mosaic of Jesus

A mosaic making exercise that trains little ones how
 look and apply color to define objects in two
 dimensional space. This project is good for fourth
and fifth graders, ages 9-11.

      This is the type of art project that appears more difficult than it actually is. Because I am both an art educator and a studio artist, I am always looking for methods that aid students on their long road to becoming confident makers of art. This simple process of crafting a paper mosaic on top of an image helps young budding artists to understand how color works to describe shape and illusion. Once the student has completed a couple of these processes, he will be ready to develop a mosaic from scratch because  he will remember the logical choices he made previously through this process.

      Tear from a catalog, a photo of Christ and then proceed to shred small piles of paper of similar colors that you see in the photograph. You will be layering the tiny shreds of paper on top of your image with white glue. The more practiced you become at this mosaic exercise, the closer your version will be to the one you are pasting on top of. 

      Teachers may wish to give each student a colored photocopy of the picture they are working on top of, in order to help guide them should they make mistakes that they will need to alter later. 

      It is very advantageous to teach the young through literal practice such as this. I understand that there are many art teachers who are apposed to such measures. But, often their agenda is not to aid in the development of an "actual" artist who is to become a confident, skilled professional. There are many reasons for teaching the young less literally. Art educators teach innovation and creative processes in which students must come up with answers to problems on their own. This is good and I develop a great many projects that require such analysis. However, I do not sacrifice good old-fashioned training for it. This is because I know that repetition in development of formulating how something is produced is necessary for those students who would take their creative learning into the production of actual art works. Many art educators will quickly sacrifice their protege for the sake of facilitating their own philosophy. This kind of instruction alone grieves me; art students need a balanced diet of ideas/applications in order to become the best in their field of study.

      It is my goal to produce in my students creative thinking and confidence and technical prowess. If they become artistically articulate early in life, they will have time then to embrace the philosophy of practice that means the most to them personally when they are older. I do not approve of indoctrination of students in 'art movements' or 'school's of thought' whilst they are young. Let them grow and become for themselves what is most meaningful for their own generation and time. They may learn a great deal from the past and indeed, I do teach them about the past. But, there will be a unique vision and collection of events for every generation that is particular to itself. It is not for the educator to decide what it should be or how it should be defined based upon what they personally prefer or approve of.
      A exercise similar, yet more advanced, is posted here. I wrote this lesson plan for students in high school. Here the requirement is for teen art students to craft a paper mosaic by observing a space or a photograph. This slight alteration in the exercise causes students to interpret what they are actually observing. A more difficult application would be for them to produce a mosaic from no reference material at all. Do you see how these exercises advance in steps? Excellent training proceeds thus.

Coloring Links to Lenten Themes:

• Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss
• Kiss of Judas and Prostration of the Guards
• Color The Mocking of Christ

Craft an Egg Carton Cross

Above is a unique 3-D, memorial, cross craft for Sunday School students, grades 3, 4, and 5.

      I glued the egg carton parts to a sturdy piece of cardboard and left my construction to dry overnight. Then, I used a toothpick to gently poke many holes into the mache carton cups so that I would be able to insert the silk flowers later. Give students a wide variety of discarded old magazines and recycled paper to tear into small pieces. Glue these randomly to the background of the cross picture to assimilate foliage. Then, dismantle a spray or two of silk flowers and poke these buds into the holes on the cross. All the while adding a generous application of tacky white glue to the ends of each flower before pushing it into each hole. Leave this project to dry over night. In the end, each student will have a unique, three dimensional cross to decorate their home with for Easter Sunday. 

• "Raise Up The Cross!" coloring page
• Color Easter Lilies for Lent

About Egg Cartons

      An egg carton or egg box (the British English term) is a carton designed for carrying and transporting whole eggs.

A filled egg carton.

      These cartons have a dimpled form in which each dimple accommodates an individual egg and isolates that egg from eggs in adjacent dimples. This structure helps protect eggs against stresses exerted during transportation and storage by absorbing a lot of shock and limiting the incidents of fracture to the fragile egg shells. An egg carton can be made of various materials, including foamed plastics such as Styrofoam, clear plastic or may be manufactured from recycled paper and molded pulp by means of a mechanized papier-mâché process.

      Before its invention, eggs were carried in egg baskets. The egg carton was invented in 1911 by newspaper editor Joseph Coyle of Smithers, British Columbia, to solve a dispute between a local farmer and hotel owner in Aldermere, near present day Telkwa, in British Columbia, over the farmer's eggs often being delivered broken.

      The egg carton "box" was further developed by H.G.Bennett (Riseley UK) during the 1950s and became the norm for egg transportation during this period.

      Unlike many products, trademarks and advertisements for egg brands are usually printed on the food container itself rather than on a separate container (as with breakfast cereals). This single-layer, distinctive packaging distinguishes egg cartons from different producers or quality on the retail shelf.

Craft Eggshell Mosaic Easter Eggs

First you will need to collect egg shells for this craft and the number of those egg shells will depend upon your love of the craft. I collected only enough to demonstrate the process. In order to keep your kitchen clean and bacteria at a minimum, soak the left over shells in a vinegar solution. One cup of boiling water, plus two tablespoons of any type of vinegar will suffice for a gentle soak. This will also help loosen the membrane from the inner shell. The membrane should be removed for several reasons, the first being that it will help keep the egg shells from developing an unfortunate odor and the second being that the shells will adhere better when glued to another shell's surface. Above is a photo of the membrane being separated from the shell.

After the shells have been dryed, break them up and soak them in dying solutions. I chose to do this with food coloring. This is the traditional recipe which includes a few drops of food coloring combined together with the ratio of vinegar and water that I have mentioned above.

After draining and drying the shells on a paper towel, you may then glue these to either hard boiled eggs or eggs that have been hollowed out and cleaned in advance. I used white school glue for this process and then covered the surface of my sample eggs with Mod Podge. You could also paint a layer of clear nail polish over the eggs if you have no other alternatives on hand.

 

More Mosaics Crafted With Egg Shells:

• How to make an egg shell mosaic
• An alternative version of the method above
• Miy Easter Project: Egg Shell Confetti Bowl Craft
• Egg Shell Mosaic Vase

 Easter by Marjorie Goldwasser, (8 yrs. old)
The grass is turning oh, so green.
Everywhere new buds are seen.
The Easter bunny is on his way,
To bring us eggs on Easter day.

An Easter Bonnet Collage Competition

Video of a annual school Easter bonnet competition.

      Your school can sponsor a Easter Bonnet Contest for Spring. I've included an ad below from the The Day Book. Chicago Ill. 1915. The pictures have been cleaned and resized here at our blog for teachers to promote an Easter bonnet drawing competition of their very own. 

      I have also included a collage example using the same template. My students snipped and glued all kinds of fuzzy, furry tactile elements to their Easter bonnets, instead of drawing on them.

Easter bonnet collage made with template below
and construction paper, pom poms, feathers, chenille
stems etc... Girls Win Your Easter Hat!

"Sketch your idea of an attractive spring bonnet above this face. Then fill out the blank and mail it to the Fashion Editor of The Day Book. A different face will be printed for four days, today, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Send in as many drawings as you wish as long as they are all drawn on pictures clipped from The Day Book. This contest closes March 29. The winner will be presented with an Easter bonnet, like her design, Free. The materials must not exceed $10.00 in cost."