Toy Design Project for Kids

For the few elementary students who don't understand how art relates to their lives, I walked them through the process of toy making. Toys don't just appear on store shelves or in the bedroom toy box. Someone had to come up with the idea, make a preliminary sketches, present the sketches, rework the sketches, make pattern, choose the fabric (color and texture), or make a 3D model for hard plastic toys. I showed (and described) a few youtube videos that go through the elaborate process it takes to make a single toy for a kiddie meal.

I required my students to start with a sketch to be used as a pattern, and for those who needed something tactile, Wiki Sticks did the trick . They cut it out of paper first, and then  two layers of fabric.

They ran fabric glue around the edge of one piece of fabric, leaving a few inches without glue. They added the second layer and once the glue was dry, they stuffed the opening with stuffing.

The openings were glued  and clothes pins helped keep edges together until dry. Students used foam pieces, puffy paint, googly eyes, and buttons to decorate their toys. The project only takes an hour, but the knowledge that every toy they ever see was made by someone who went through a similar creative process, will hopefully last a life time.

Wall Vase Craft

A few weeks ago, my little artists were each given a chunk of clay to run through the slab roller before choosing a shape to cut from the slab. This was the first step in their wall vase project. Then they created texture by pressing objects into the clay. Pockets were cut and textured before the slip and score technique was used to attach them to the original shape. Holes at the top ensure that these wall vases or wall pockets can be hung by a nail or a ribbon.

I made a small clay wall vase in elementary school, but I don't remember ever explicitly being taught about elements of design: line, shape, color, texture, and value. Simply by talking about these elements with my students, helps them recognize that they have choices. They can decide the shape of their slab. Not everyone has to make an oval. They can choose what kind of texture they make. It doesn't just have to be the first tool they come across. There are options. Some chose not to even make pockets, just shapes to hang on the wall.

Finally, students chose the color paint to use for the surface, after the pieces were fired. Some students used multiple colors; some used thick paint to fill in the bumps; others dried brushed color on top of dried thick paint to show contrast and expose the texture.

I don't know if any of these projects will survive the bus ride home, but I like to think of children hanging it on a bedroom wall and keeping tiny treasures or dried flowers in them and remembering art class.