The 2nd grade classes have been creating paper sculptures this week. I wanted to show them how they could take something flat and manipulate it into something 3d. The project was inspired by the work of the Ave Studio in Uruguay and a project the Texas Art Teacher did a couple years ago with her students. Ave Studio Texas Art Teacher project I shared a few pieces that were done by the Ave Studio and talked about how they repeated one shape, a water drop, and created something that was much bigger and that had a 3d quality to it. Students started out the project by making a medium and large flower shape and glued one on top of the other. We then made the cylinder center, followed by the "petals" or water drop shapes, and then put the whole thing together. When making the cylinder I emphasized making a loop with the paper and making sure they overlapped one end of the paper with the other. In order to connect the cylinder to the flower, students cut slits into the bottom to make a series of tabs that could then get glued in place. After the drop shapes were glued, I showed the kids how to attach them to the cylinder, other drops, and the flower. As the week has gone on, we have gotten more adventurous with how they can attach pieces to each other. One of the cool things about this project is the wide variety of finished pieces kids have been coming up with. One thing that is very important is for the kids not to rush the gluing and pinching of their parts. Pieces can easily come unglued and pop off. I have them count a slow, quiet 10 while pinching pieces together. I also stress that they need to pinch from 2 sides. If they just press something together from one side, the glue will not hold and frustration can set in. I have been doing different color combos with each class, so when I save a few from each class the final install will have more variety. (You know how I roll with my installs;)