Recycled Sculptures

Whale before gluing 

Whale final product

I created my sculpture class with an older group in mind.  Originally, the class was supposed to 3rd-5th graders however because of low enrollment (mainly kickball being at the same time block) my only student set out to recruit students so we could keep our class.  In the end he came up with 5 very excited 4 and 5 year olds.  This being said, I had to change the plans of my class a bit.  It was lengthy and there was not one day that the students were not excited about it.  I am very proud of the work my young students have accomplished.

• The first step was for the students to draw their animal.  
• They then broke it into shapes.  I was so impressed with the way these students were able to compare a shape to their animal and break it down systematically.  
• They then made a list of their shapes and how many of each they would need.  
• Afterwards, they searched in the recycling bin for the shapes they needed. 
• When they had their shapes collected they had to lay out on the table how they wanted to set up their shapes in order to make their animal. 
• When the students were satisfied with their composition we hot glued them together.  
• Since most of the materials were plastics, paint wasn't really an option.  We used tissue paper and modge podge to collage on top of our recyclables to create the colors. 
• The students then glued google eyes onto their animals and BAM! Amazing artwork!! 

I think these came out awesome. There were animals ranging from butterflies, bunnies, and sharks! It was a great way for the students to work on following directions and could be used to follow drawing lessons on breaking down objects into shapes to draw them.  I love how these came out and I hope you do too! 

Dog before gluing 

Dog final product