Our second week of Fun With Junk camp ended with some clever creations as well as some beautiful work.

Our friends worked on sculptures of creatures.  We looked through books for inspiration and drew the animals, looking carefully at the shapes that made their parts.  These drawings became a plan that we referred back to as we sculpted.  

We also did some sewing: paper cards with beads and monogrammed pillows.  We used upholstery samples and scraps of fabric to create letters for the pillows.  We also used a variety of stitches: running, couching, blanket and the French knot.  Our friends were very pleased with their work.

More Fun With Junk

Thanks for sharing your children with us!

We started our second week of Fun with Junk by using discarded CDs. CDs are everywhere today. And, when the information on them is no longer useful, they become trash. The campers came up with a few suggestions as to what we could do with the CDs. One person suggested that we could hang them in trees to scare away birds. Another camper suggested that they could be used as the eyes in a mask. At camp, we used them as pages for our journals. We will use these journals to document some of our work and record our ideas. 

We also worked with printing. We used found objects to create black impressions. We experimented with the objects to discover the marks that could be made. Some of the objects that we used included the edge of foam core, corks, race cars, plastic netting and Styrofoam. This project was not completed in one day. Work continued on Tuesday. After the ink was dry, we had the opportunity to add color by painting with watercolors. Our campers created a large piece of art as well as some note cards...

Perspective is big concept in the world of art. The idea of looking at something in two different ways is hard. We gave it a try on Tuesday. We worked with view finders and looked at a still life that was across the room. The campers were asked to draw what they saw. Their drawings included the vase, the flowers, a shell and pinecone. Some drawings even included the table. Next, the still life was moved to the center of the table. The campers used the view finders to look at the still life again. They could not see the whole image; they could only see parts. They were asked to draw what they saw. Holding their two drawings side by side, it was very interesting to see the similarities and differences in their work. 

After small group work each day, we have time for open exploration of our center classroom.  Friends have been weaving on crazy looms, building with ramps and tunnels for balls and working in our message center.

We were amazed by the children's work on their sewing projects this week, and they seemed equally satisfied with their results.  The sewing project had many steps:  sketching animals, drawing a plan, making a pattern, cutting fabric to match the pattern, and finally sewing.  

Sewing is not an easy task.  Pinching and applying pressure to the needle to get it through the upholstery sample, and then pulling the needle through without losing the thread was challenging.  Everyone seemed up for the challenge, and they referenced their patterns frequently as they sewed.  Many friends added embellishments like buttons and beads, and many were interested in trying different stitches.  You will see running and couching stitches as well as French knots in their work.  

Here are the final products with the child's ideas next to his or her work:

Our sculptures were fun to create and it was tough to come to a stopping place.  Many boys used their sculptures in pretend play during exploration time; we had robot battles before they ventured home.  There's a story behind every sculpture, and here are a few for your enjoyment:

• Beats loves music and his back powers his headphones.
• Lila lives in Narnia where it is really cold.  She is wearing a snow bonnet over her head.
• Kansas is walking two dogs.  One is bad so she has to carry him.  The bad dog's name is Bubba and the good dog is Feather.
  
• Zane the Boomerang has a jetpack on his back that has flames.
• Robo has a fighting knife and a slinky whacker.
• Captain Boomerang has an eye that can go all the way around.  He gets his power from CD changes.
  
• Crystal has a finger knitted scarf that was made by her artist.

Finally, we drew our sculptures and painted the drawings with water color paint.  And, we had fun with our crazy looms.

Thanks for a wonderful week!

This week's camp is off to a fun and focused start.  We are working on two long-term projects: a sculpture and a sewing piece.  We are taking time to plan our work and put intention and meaning into our creations.

After small group work each day, we have time for free exploration.  Here is a glimpse of what we've been up to!