Activity Plan 5-6: Paper Sculptures

Children will create sculptures from paper using a process that encourages problem solving and creative thinking.

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Ready-To-Use Teaching Idea: Social Development

Materials:

• large sheets of oaktag or poster board
• masking tape, transparent tape, stapler
• children's safety scissors
• chart paper and marker
• camera and film
• small sculpture or statue
• book with photographs of African, Mayan, or other abstract sculptures such as those by Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, or Louise Nevelson

Objective: Children will create sculptures from paper using a process that encourages problem solving and creative thinking.

ACTIVITY

1 During meeting time, write the word sculpture on chart paper. Ask children to tell you what they know about sculpture and record their responses on the chart paper. Show them the small sculpture or statue you have brought in and encourage them to look at it and touch it carefully, Share the books with photographs of sculpture. Encourage children to describe what they observe about different sculptures.

2 Show children a large sheet of oaktag or poster board. Ask them how they could create their own sculptures using paper. How can they make the paper change? What might they need to create their sculptures? Record the children's ideas.

3 Invite children to help you gather the materials they have suggested they will need to make their paper sculptures. Give each child a large sheet of oaktag. Encourage them to share the other materials.

4 Photograph children as they are in the process of creating their sculptures. When they are finished, provide an area on the table or on the floor where children can exhibit their work. Photograph children with their finished sculptures. Invite them to share their sculptures with the group, describing the processes they used to create their individual work and what they learned about paper.

Curriculum Connection: BLOCK BUILDING

Collaborative Structures: Sculptures can also be made from blocks, small boxes, and other materials found in your block area or classroom. Divide children into small groups. Explain that each day a different group will have an opportunity to work together in the block area to create a sculpture. When each group has finished their work, they will share it with the class. Photograph the group sculptures to include with your sculpture display.

Risa Young is the former director of two early childhood programs in the New York City area, the Children's Aid Society's Greenwich Village Center and the Innovative Learning Center at the Long Island College Hospital. She has been a consultant to Early Childhood Today for more than eight years.

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