Pamphlet and Accordion Book Projects for Kids

There are many things I love about having my Art students create a hand-bound book. It incorporates language arts, teaches problem solving skills, creativity, and craftsmanships. It is also a perfect chance to differentiate by interest. 

We made quote books, joke books, concept books about dinosaurs, architecture, and mythological creatures.  There were quote books, original poems, and "a day in the life of" slice of life books. Students don't just get to choose the content of their book, they choose the form that book will take.

Accordion books, such as this one about winter can stand expand to stand up and display the pages all at once. A half an inch of each page spread is turned back before folding the center of the remaining paper. That provides a tab to glue to the back of the previous page spread.

One student decided after the fact to make their book an accordion, so they created strips of paper that they added glue on either side of the peaked fold to attach pages.

Other stitch-less books used a similar technique, but without a tab. For example, the second page spread would half the back of the left page glued to the back of the right page and the back, but just in a half an inch strip from top to bottom. With this book the back and front cover are connected with a strip of colored tape to form a spine.

Most of these books, such as this digitally illustrated story book, just needed a strip of glue along the back edges of each page spread. 

But in some cases, the entire back of each page was covered with glue, using a glue stick. This pop-up picture book of types of vehicles was extra sturdy because each page was two layers of card-stock. This student had to figure out how to get water to pop in front of the jet ski and how to attach a race flag as the background of his race car.

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Pamphlet books were another option. A single signature is simply sewn together with a couple of stitches. This has the benefit of using the front and back of the paper, but the downside of having to figure out the page numbers and what will go on each page, rather than each page spread being on a single sheet of paper.

To make this, one of my students, folded four or five pieces of paper together and poked three holes in the signature fold. A piece of yarn and a large needle was used to poke the yarn up through the back of the center hole and then down through the bottom hole. Then she came back up trough the center hole and finally in the top hole from front to back.

The ends of the yarn were tied near the center hole on the back side.

For all of the hard bound books, students used a piece of book board or mat board just a hair bigger than the pages. with nice mat board it might just be fine to leave it the original color, but all of my students chose to cover theirs with paper. They used a glue stick to cover the board with glue and than rubbed the paper on until firm. The corners were cut with just enough wiggle room to cover the thickness of the board, and then side of the board had the edge glued.

The entire outside of the outer page of text is covered with glue.

And then attached to the inside of the book board. If a good glue stick is not available, liquid glue brushed smoothly with a thick brush can also provide an even layer of glue.

this student opted for the easy spine solution: just use tape.

I loved to see students share their books with their peers. They each felt a sense of accomplishment with their finished product, but just as important was the enjoyment of the process. 

 

Quilt Making: Art project for Students with Multiple Complex Needs

My students with multiple complex needs are not able to sew their own quilt or even to participate in our wire quilt like some of my other art students. But that doesn't mean I couldn't differentiate the lesson to allow them to understand how contributing a square to a larger group project helps create art and community. They could understand pattern through some exercises that involved clapping and word patterns. They made choices of colors, shapes, and placement for their square, and they glued their shapes down. Origami paper was perfect for this assignment because each shape had a front color and a back color to try out in the arrangement. I pre-cut all the shapes and they used glue sticks to attach them. Many of these students are non-verbal so they would point to the color when I'd give them a choice or two, or I would give them two shape choices up front and then individually a second time for each of those choices (Do you want a rectangle? Yes or no? Do you want a triangle? Yes or no?) and then wait for a response such as an nod or an attempt to say "yes."

Using squares of pre-cut fabric that were actually made for quilting is another great way to introduce students to the idea of piecing a quilt together. Students made decisions based on similar colors and themes and were encouraged to space them in a way that created balance. The range of abilities varied, but what mattered most to me is for students to be able to understand a little bit of what goes into quilting in the real world. For this one they used liquid glue on the back before flipping, placing and patting each square. Quilts can be made using an collaborate or individual process, but I hope the next time they climb under a quilt they get a cozy feeling, remembering these projects and knowing their art teacher loves them.

 

Wire Quilts

My students love to hear stories about the lives of the Quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama. Their quilting knowlege was handed down from mothers to daughters since before the civil war. They just wanted to keep their children warm with scraps of worn out clothing, but their aesthetics were similar to those of modernist painting giants. Once someone recognized the aesthetic value, they were exhibiting their work in museums across the country. The majority of the talent in the world goes unnoticed, but it is not the fame that makes something beautiful. It's the work itself, and of course, the love that goes into it.

After talking the purpose and construction of real quilts, each student started making their own quilt squares to contribute to a class quilt, except this one would be made from metal.

How to fill a square? It was a problem to be solved, and the room was full of solutions: wire, pipe cleaners, beads, buttons, tape, upholstery swatches; if we had it, they could use it. Students chatted about their day as they twisted and taped, and strung things together. This isn't the kind of quilt you'd want to curl up in, but I hope the process gave my students a sense of how communities come together in the form of quilting bees.