Monday, July 24th was our third art session at Cione Recreation Center. We continued our ‘travel’ discussion. This time, we talked about ways we can travel, one being in a hot air balloon! We discussed differences in colors and how they make us feel. Colors like red, 
orange, and yellow can represent anger, happiness, excitement as well as daytime or sunsets. Colors like green, blue, and purple can make us feel calm, relaxed, show sadness and can help us create a nighttime scene. Students choose whether they wanted their hot air balloon scene during the day or night and chose either a warm or cool colored paper. Then, we used chalk pastels in our chosen cool or warm palette to blend our skies.
V
ery messy!
Next, after washing our hands so we didn’t spread the chalk all over, we used markers to color coffee filters. When flat, coffee filters are circular, making for a perfect shaped balloon! With some teacher assistance, baskets and grass were added. Students were able to work at their own pace when coloring the coffee filters, so when finished, they were given a white piece of paper to draw a self-portrait. They were told to draw themselves, color in, and cut out. This self-portrait would be glued inside the basket of the balloon!
Left: “Can I draw myself in a costume?”
Right: Boys adding lightning to their balloons. They are in a storm.
The second half of our day was just as messy! The older students used Celluclay, which many of them were familiar with as papier-mâché. Plastic tubs with the dry fluffy Celluclay were at each table, with cups of water nearby. The students were instructed to pour the water into the Celluclay filled buckets and mix with their hands.
Once the Celluclay was mixed to a dough-like or oatmeal consistency, they chose whether they’d like to use a bowl or a plate for a mold. I brought plastic bowls and plates from IKEA, which were perfect for kid-sized creations.
They shaped the Celluclay into their mold, making sure to smooth any lumps (which there are a LOT of lumps!) and try to spread the material evenly over the mold. Last, students wrote their names on a piece of paper to label which was their creation.
Students had the option to assist Miss Margot with creating more bowls and plates for the students who were absent or could work on their postcards. Hopefully these messy creations will be dry and we can paint them next week!
Miss Dayna