Bread Clay and Paint

My granddaughter's third grade class finished their animal sculptures today.

I made up many batches of bread clay--made with white bread, glue, paint and glycerin.  In a few days this clay dries very hard.

I made up little packets for each student.

They added on lots of different features with the clay and beads.

I'm pretty pleased that all of the animals can stand on their own--also I really liked the addition of the clay--not only was it fun to use, but it added character to their sculptures.

A Sculpture Project

I decided to teach a small sculpture project for my granddaughter's third grade class.  I made up a sort of kit for each student--we all started out the same, but these animals will all be different.

The student's twisted the newspaper, knotted a head, threaded it through the tube and taped it to form the head, neck and tail--lots of masking tape is needed.

These are taped together and ready for the paper mache.

Today was paper mache day!  This step was a bit tough for the students.  They put on a layer of newspaper and then the last layer of white tissue paper--(the tissue goes on dry and is painted on with a brush dipped in wheat paste).  The last step was to form ears with a few strips of plaster gauze.

I did stay later to touch up the ones that were threatening to fall apart--most of these will be able to stand on their own.  Next week, we paint and add details--I'm curious to see how they'll come out.