The Make Way for Play Art Workshop begins at Caroline Elementary School this week. Funded by a Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County Arts Education Grant, the workshop helps support literacy skills and explores the relationship between art and play. I am working with three classrooms of kindergartners who are studying animals and the environment surrounding Caroline Elementary School. Each child has chosen either an animal or a bird to study.
One kindergarten class will be making both bird puppets and puppets to go along with them such as flowers, a companion bird, a nest, or a birdhouse. The children will have the opportunity to create a story and puppet show with their puppets. In the other two classes, the children will be making a sculpture of both the animal they are studying and a dwelling or environment for their animal. The environments for the animals can either be fanciful or realistic. The children will use the animals and environments as an inspiration for their stories.
Animal armatures wrapped in plaster gauze. Next week we'll paint them.