Going For A Walk

Found Art

In these unsettling times, one of the ways to ground oneself and settle the children around us is to literally look at the ground. Our inspiration for this maker project is Marina DeBris. She is an artist from Indiana University who currently resides in Australia. Her art is focused on sustainibility - bringing attention to pollution by using found trash to make both decorative and fine art. The pictures and video below were created by my daughter and I as we explored this topic.

Challenge

To create an animal and a habitat for our animal out of things we find.

Step 1

Go for a walk. We took the dogs and a bag to carry our treasures in as we went.

Inspiration

As we walked, I had a mammal in my mind and Julia refused to disclose what her vision was. I picked up a fat stick that I thought might make a nice body and carried it around for awhile before we saw this red winged blackbird hanging out at the pond. This was my inspiration. Julia continued to be mysterious.

Step 2: Planning

We set out everything that we had found and gathered some supplies from inside the house. Believe it or not, we found a cookie tray that was litter.

Hotglue gun
Work surface (save the carpets!)
Cardboard
Scissors (I cut the cardboard using the box cutter - safety first!)

Step 3: Making

While my blackbird was made with a pinecone, leaves, and a little bit of forsythia, Julia’s habitat was quite a bit more complex. Her explanation is on the left.

VID_20200316_104530_2.mp4

A Pig

VID_20200316_110420_2.mp4

A Blackbird

Reflection

This is really the most important piece. Whether it's simple questions like "Did you have fun?" or more complex, taking a moment for metacognition is a learning strategy that helps focus the experience and creates connections to other knowledge. Below is a list of reflective questions that can help to "gel" an activity.

What was your favorite part?
What do you know now that you didn't?
What didn't work the way you thought it would?
What mistakes happened?
Did you change what you thought you would make? Why?
What made you ask for help?
What do you like about what you made?
What do you think is missing from your habitat?

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