Friday, October 22, 2010

Mexican Marigolds

In Journey Around the World, 4-7 year olds visited Mexico, where we learned about the annual Day of the Dead celebration or "Día de los Muertos." Marigolds are an important flower during this time as they keep the celebrations welcoming and joyful for all involved. 





This project took two 1 hour classes and used the following materials:


White Tag Board 12"x18"
Blue Construction Paper 12"x18"
Tempera Paint-red, orange, yellow, pink, metallic gold (warm colors)
Paint Shaper Combs
Sequins
Green Construction Scraps
Warm Construction paper 9"x12"
Oil Pastels (warm colors and black)
Scissors, Glue, Paintbrushes


On the first day students began by dividing their tag board into thirds while the paper is in the horizontal position (this just has to be approximate).  Next warm colored tempera paint, various paint shaper combs, brushes, and sponges were provided.  Students painted the first section mostly red (they could add orange or gold), the second orange, and the third seciton yellow.  We emphasize trying to create unique textures in each section of these painted papers. These were set aside to dry for the next class.






Next students chose a piece of warm colored construction paper and drew a vase form of their choice.  Students were to make sure their vase was large and took up most of the paper. These were cut out and then oil pastels in warm hues were used to add a simple geometric or line pattern.  These were glued to the bottom portion of the blue construction paper (the blue is in vertical /portait position)


The next class students began making Mexican Marigolds--they had a blast and learned some great new cutting skills. 

First the painted paper was cut into 3 parts, one of each color.  Then each color was cut in half to get 6 squares total, two of each color.  I showed them how to "round out the corners" to create a circle. 

 From there students were free to cut, shape, and tear their circles to create petals.    They could cut notches, fringe, rounded petals, spikes...Whatever they wanted.  The goal was to create 3 separate flowers, each with at least 3 colors and layers.  Smaller circles were cut for the centers and extra layers of the fluffy marigolds. 

Tacky glue was used to add shiny sequins to the centers to jazz these amazing flowers up (Not that they needed it!)



The last step was to use various shades of green construction to create a stem and leaves for each flower.  The flowers, stems and leaves were all glued onto the blue construction so they filled the vase. 

This project makes a great display for fall, as it is colorful, cheerful and had bold fall colors.  It's really not as complex as it sounds--all the steps are simple!