Celebrate the 100th Day of School by making a sculpture out of 100 pieces of recycled materials. Your junior Rodin sculptor will also be helping the environment by reusing items that would otherwise go in the trash.
What You Need:
- 100 pieces of recycled materials such as foam blocks, foam peanuts, string, yarn, ribbon, fabric scraps, plastic tubs and lids, old school supplies, buttons, beads, pipe cleaners, bottle caps, rubber bands, old plastic cutlery, or pieces of broken toys.
- Glue gun (to be operated by an adult).
What You Do:
- Collect the recycled materials such as those mentioned above. You and your child can also brainstorm brainstorm other ideas for materials that will add to the sculpture. Your child may want to help with the collection part of this activity.
- Explain to your child that she will make a sculpture by gluing materials together. Tell her it will be a good idea to start with the larger, heavier materials at the bottom of the sculpture, then glue smaller ones on top.
- Have your child count out 100 of her favorite pieces of material from the collected items for use in her sculpture.
- As your child starts arranging her sculpture, heat up the glue gun. When she's ready, apply glue as needed to hold items together. Allow the glue time to dry fore adding new pieces, if needed.
- Admire the finished sculpture together and perhaps take a photograph of it. Ask your child to think about how big or small a sculpture can be if it's made from 100 items.
Did You Know? Auguste Rodin was an artist who lived from 1840 to 1917 in France. He is famous for raising the public’s interest in clay sculpture as an art. There is a museum named for Rodin in Paris.
By Beth Levin
Beth Levin has an M.A. in Curriculum and Education from Columbia University Teachers College. She has written educational activities for Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and Renaissance Learning publishers. She has a substitute teaching credential for grades K-12 in Oregon, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.
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