Arts, Crafts, and a Sense of Humor

I was perusing my favorite art education website theartofed.com and I stumbled across this hilarious article about a new class being offered focusing on the use of glitter and glue sticks. (It didn't take me long to notice the April 1st date on the article) After having a good April Fools laugh, I started thinking about all the crafty projects that people often suggest to me. As a new art teacher, I will say that of course some of my projects are those same crafty fun things I see on Pinterest, but I would love to expand the range of materials beyond the typical kid-craft popsicle stick and macaroni art, and yes, I am one of those evil teachers who HATES glitter! I often have people suggest project ideas for me and there are certain things that I simply cannot do without cringing. Like hand turkeys, or anything using finger or hand prints (it might be cute for your toddler, but it doesn't belong in art class) If you really get creative, certain things like macaroni and popsicle sticks could possibly turn into a fantastic project if used in a new and exciting way. I tend to lean towards projects inspired by art history or artists using unexpected materials. (I love reconstructed book art and shadow boxes) At the moment, being a traveling teacher has restricted my material exploration (No way I'll bring in a hot plate to melt wax for batik painting!) but I do try to branch out as much as possible and get resourceful with my materials. Having a sense of humor about certain things that don't work out like they were pictured online is always helpful when creating new project ideas! I have even had students use materials in a way that wasn't necessarily part of the project, for instance, we were using stencils and instead of tracing the stencil, a student placed it under the paper and used a crayon to rub the paper and make a relief design- this spark of creativity gave me an idea for a future project! It's important to look for inspiration in unexpected places (especially your students) and not fall into the habit of recreating the same crafty project that kids have been doing since probably the 1950’s. The best thing is to have fun creating project ideas and show that you’re interested as well!