Paper Mache: A Physical Project

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Gold Standards:

• Objective 3b: Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations: Solves Social Problems

• Objective 11d: Demonstrates positive approaches to learning: Shows curiosity and motivation

• Objective 11e: Demonstrates positive approaches to learning: Shows flexibility and inventiveness in thinking

• Objective 21b: Explores and describes spatial relationships and shapes: Understands shapes

• Objective 25: Demonstrates knowledge of the characteristics of living things

• Objective 33: Explores the visual arts

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Materials Needed: Balloons, Pre-cut strips of news paper, Pre-cut strips of printer paper, 1 part water 1 part glue mixture, 3 bowls for mixture; acrylic paint, paint brushes, water cups; T-shirt's for painting 

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Description of Plan:

          Before the project begins, I will call the students up to me one by one to figure out what animal they want to create for their zoo. They had previously chosen to make a zoo out of our classroom for their overall project. Once they choose an animal, I will blow up the balloons the size that they want the body of their animal to be. They will have the chance to choose the color of their balloon and the size of it.

          While the children are at lunch, I will create the glue and water mixtures. The mixture calls for 1 part glue to 1 part water. I will set the room up to have three students at each table, and each table will have a large bowl of the glue/water mixture. There will also be a table set up in the middle of the room for me to give an example. I will demonstrate how to dip the paper into the glue mixture and then pull the mixtures off of the paper to place it onto the balloon. When the students come back to the classroom, they will sit at the table with their balloon and watch as I give the example. Once they have watches me, they will have the opportunity to work on their own animals. I will walk around the classroom and check on the progress of each student and answer questions as needed. When the students feel like they have reached a stopping point, they will be asked to leave their animals on the table and wash their hands. This will conclude their project for the first day.

          As the days go on, we will add two more layers of the paper mache: one made of newspaper again and the final made with white paper. The white paper will make it easier for the children to paint on their animals. They will also have the chance to blow up another balloon if they would like; this will be used for the animals heads. This balloon will also be coated with one layer of white paper mache. The children will have the chance to hot glue the smaller balloon onto their animals if they choose to do so. After the children have had the chance to glue their animal together, they will begin to paint their animals how they see fit.

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Questions to Prompt thinking:

• Why are we making the animals? What animal are you making?

• What could you do to make your animal unique?

• What colors do you need to create your animal? Can you make a color that you need?

• What could you use paper mache for other than this project?

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Justification for Plan:

This activity will allow the children to experiment with glue, water, and paper, to form a hard mold for which they can paint to form a masterpiece. It will broaden their curiosity of art. They will learn to make creations out of the simplest of things. “Children represent what they know through their behavior, mental imagery, and language” (Early Childhood Curriculum 40). This activity gives the children the chance to make something (animals) that belong somewhere (the zoo). The children choose which animals they want to make and thus create the animals. Giving children this activity may lead to students to asking more questions about what else they can make in the classroom. Their social development and fine motor skills will be tested in this activity as they discuss their creations and maneuver the paper/glue mixture onto the balloon.

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          As a teachers in the Blue Room, we decided to involve paper mache into our class Zoo. We made this decision because the children told us during the first week of class that they wanted to make something out of paper mache this summer. When we introduced the idea of having a class project and the children chose to have a zoo, we mentioned the idea of paper mache again. The children chose to create the animals out of paper mache because they wanted to "make the animals more life like." We agreed to this because we knew that our students would enjoy the overall project, and we knew that even if they didn't enjoy getting messy with the glue, we knew that they would love the end result. 

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