Homeschooling & Art Projects

This art project was created by my son, Rafael.

I don't know when he found the time to create this.  Rafael worked on this last Sunday.  We were waiting for family friends to come over.  I just know that my three younger children were huddled in the girl's room.  They were creating something.

I had just a few seconds to realize that they had finally dug into the art supplies.  They found the old CDs, wood pieces, and beans.  I had had those supplies in another container.  They just didn't seem to be interested in making anything for a long while.  I guess organizing the supplies in a different manner encouraged them to explore. 

Our guests had left.  I then had time to ask Rafael about his new creation.  He called him Larry.  I asked him why.  He said that Larry looked human. 

"What inspired you to make Larry?" I asked.

"Iris took out the art supplies." Rafael replied.

I asked, "How did you put him together?"

He then went on to explain that he used an old CD for the face.  Rafael placed a wooden triangle that he colored red with a color pencil as the nose.   He used beans for a smile and the two eyes.  The interesting part is that he took apart a few mini-clothespins to use for his project.  

He attached the metal parts for eyelashes.  The wooden parts were for the eyebrows and hair.  His father drilled holes close to ends of the hair.  Rafael reasoned that thumbtacks were better to attach Larry to the wall.  He did not want to use glue to affix Larry onto the wall.

Rafael is a smart boy!

I asked Rafael where he found the arms.  Well, they came as party goods from our guests.  The arms are gooey.  They can be flexed in different directions.  You could say that it is an interactive piece of art.

I asked Rafael one final question:

"Do you plan on making any more of these creations?"

He replied, "Maybe. Maybe I'll make Larry's family."

You gotta love kids who take initiative to create such lovely things. 

How about you, my friends?  Do you have some crafty kids in your home?  What do they love to make?  I highly recommend throwing some scraps of this or that together in some container.  Encourage your children to explore the container to see what they can create out of a few objects.  You'll be surprised.

This is an entry for Thorough Thursdays.  I hope you enjoyed it.