Earlier this week students started brainstorming for their Djembe drum decorations. Each group needs to show cohesion through their designs, but each drum should be uniquely displaying characteristics of the owner. Yesterday we paused the drum project because the next step is to start papier-mâché (yay!) and there isn't enough time in the class to get materials out, work, and then clean-up efficiently. Instead of drums, students began prepping for their next mini-project, Día de los Muertos scratch art sugar skulls. Making scratch art paper is super simple and actually really fun. First, students are filling an entire blank paper with an assortment of colored crayons. Students have the freedom of deciding what colors to use and how to arrange them - some are making stripes, patches, or organic spots. It is important to press hard and fill the entire paper, leaving behind no white spaces. Scratch paper needs the waxy surface under the paint in order to be properly scratched off. Next, either today or tomorrow students will be covering the crayon in a thin mixture of black tempera paint and dish soap. The dish soap helps the paint flake off nicely when it is being etched versus crumbling in unwanted areas. Once the paint is dry, they are ready to be etched! Students will come back to this mini-project during breaks from their African musical performance.
I'm trying to pass back artwork this week, too, so students can finally show off the beautiful work they've created so far.
