This week at Fishtown Recreation Center, we created our own versions of stained-glass windows. For inspiration, I shared some photos of real stained-glass windows as well as other students work from similar lesson plans. They were given construction paper (for a frame), aluminum foil (for the glass window), and a mix of different markers and mediums. The campers learned how reflective aluminum foil can be used in artwork to create bold and colorful palettes. They also learned about glossing, as they experimented with glitter glue as a finishing touch.
Every few minutes, a child would call me or Ms. Ashlyn over because they had made a mistake and needed a new sheet of foil. I explained that there were no mistakes in artwork- only discoveries made. Students then began to incorporate stickers into their windows and different mediums in order to adapt to their unplanned marks! I was very proud of them for the problem-solving skills they exercised…
They were instructed to choose and decorate a frame for their stained glass to be mounted on. Most students chose to decorate their frames with abstracted line work, traditional ornate swirls, and wavy lines. However, some decided to treat their construction paper as a whole new arena for their artwork, drawing hearts, flowers, cats, etc.
Overall, the children had a great learning experience and explored many mediums. Most importantly, as students usually do, they found innovative ideas of their own to bring to the art of stained-glass windows. Check out some of the finish works below!
