Hello! If you read my previous post, you’d know I left off talking about what I put in my explosion book.
For those who didn’t read my previous post, an explosion book is essentially an origami book that has a bunch of triangular and square sections inside. Here is an example:
I had to make one of these for one of my Art Education classes and fill it with an art theme or any art-related activities for younger students. I chose to compile a bunch of quick mini art activities.
Here is one of the activities I chose that teaches students about texture, primary colors, and secondary colors:
This was actually part of one of my bigger lesson plans, where students had to create a texture with recycled materials using only primary colors. Some of the recycled materials I used were sponges, forks, bubble wrap, cardboard, and cotton balls. They would dip the materials in paint and stamp them onto their paper. Because paint is messy and it mixes, it would allow the students to see the secondary colors they created using only red, yellow, and blue. Maybe you can see the purple and green I made using only red, yellow, and blue.
My professor actually shared this activity with us in class. He showed us how to make a design using regular Elmer’s glue, letting it dry, and covering it with tin foil. I think it’s a good idea to use regular Elmer’s glue for younger students, but I used hot glue to get a more raised design. Then, using Crayola markers, I colored in the tin foil. There are a lot of different directions you can take this, like discussing reliefs or texture. Overall, I think it’s a very versatile project that can be adapted for many ages.
There are a lot of opportunities for these projects in the art classroom. You can tie in educational elements like texture, color, recycling, or even art history. My next post will be the last post I share on this explosion book. I just have a couple more mini projects to share that I think could be helpful tools for the classroom or just for fun.
Thanks for reading!
~Eleora