While cleaning out my attic, I came across a box of leis, which I bought for a luau themed party that I never threw. Rather than throwing it away, I brought it to school and had my multiple complex needs students use them for a mixed media art piece.
As a class, we talked about how you don't need a paint brush to paint, you could use a sponge, a mop or your fingers. Then we wadded up plastic leis and dipped them into green and yellow paint to pat on paper for a background color for our garden art. Before the paint was even dry, students picked colors of flowers from the silk flower leis and glued them to the surface. It's a quick project and a great lesson for kids to learn about mixed media art, the concept of background and foreground, and planting gardens.
