Quilling

"Quilling is my favorite because it’s something I can do by myself and I’m proud of that. When people go on tours of the school they say, ‘That kid is working by himself and that is amazing!’ And the more people who compliment us the better we get until we’re the best school in the country!" He wasn't the only visually impaired student who I won over last week with my quilling project. There is a 10 year old who has alway come to Art class grumpy. It's amazing to me because I am almost always right in my assumption that kids love art. Not this one. He always lets me know right off the bat that he doesn't want to make anything. Quilling, however, was a game changer.

Quilling is taking thin strips of paper and wrapping them around something thin like a quilling needle or a tooth pick. We used thin paint brush handles. Then You let it spring back, just a little bit to form a spiral before gluing the end so it keeps its desired size of circle. You can pinch it on one side to make a tear drop, a pinch on either side for an almond shape, three pinches for a triangle or 4 for a square. These shapes in various colors can then be used to pictures. Teach shapes can become petals on a flower or wings on a bug, for example. These can be glued to paper to make a card, or glued to each other for jewelry or an ornament. Our quilling projects were mounted on paper.

"Can I make a maze?" my non-art appreciator said.

"You can make anything you want to make," was my reply. And he was off and running. He didn't even use a paintbrush or toothpick to roll his paper because he thought it would slow him down. While everyone else was finishing up he was only half way through, but that didn't stop him from picking up where he left off. We pushed buttons through the maze at the end of class to see if it worked, and sure enough, he made something he was so happy with that he came in the door the following week with a smile on his face.

Quilled Christmas Ornaments

Paper and glue. Supply lists don't get much simpler than they do for quilling projects. Various widths of quilling paper can be bought online or at craft supply store. I used a paper cutter and cut strips of construction paper 1/4" wide. Rolling the strip of paper around a toothpick makes a tight circle, but if you pull the toothpick out of the center and let it relax, you can determine the size of the circle you want as an end piece. Use a drop of glue to tack down the end and keep it from unwinding too much. Then you can play around with pinching a side to make a tear drop shape, or two opposite sides sides to make an almond shape. Three pinches make a triangle, four a square...you get the picture.

 Small quilled shapes glue together to make larger shapes. wreaths and trees were the most popular shapes made for ornaments. My younger students glued separate quilled shapes to paper to create images. Making tactile images and objects like these, are perfect for my visually impaired and blind students. They are also build fine motor skills for kids who are used to just sitting and listening.

Quilling can be used to make greeting cards, pendants, and earrings, for any time of year. Maybe now's the time you get out your paper and glue.