Leaf Rubbings

This was a great project that we did a couple weeks ago.  I actually never had much luck doing leaf rubbings with my preschoolers, the paper would often rip and the students would get frustrated with the process.  These rubbings were another story, the children enjoyed the process and experienced the reveal of the leaf several times.

Before starting we went for a little nature walk to collect our materials.  We are so fortunate to have many varieties of beautiful trees on the property.

After the leaves were gathered, they were taped down on thin card board backing.

They then began to wrap their boards with aluminum foil.

As they rubbed their hands over the surface the first reveal of the leaves below started to make their impression.  One of the things I loved about this project is that the children experienced the texture and impression of the leaves with their hands first, and then they began to see it appear on the foil.  I found it to be an interesting way to really look at all the veins and shape of the leaves.

After their leaf rubbing was all set on the foil, they painted over the whole board with India Ink or as one of my students called it "That Stinky Paint!"  

Here is when they had their leaf appear again in a different version of itself.  The India Ink pulls away from the raised areas, so their leaves become very vivid.

"Miss Danielle, I see my leaf, it's right there!  Do you see it, do you see it!"

We let the ink dry, and as soon as the ink set, the children rubbed away the ink from the leaves, and the third reveal happened.  It is almost like they were polishing the leaves and a  shinny silver image of itself emerged.

I loved how the children connected with the process, but also how they had so many experiences with their leaves.  They learned about the veins and the stem, that the leaf receives nourishment from them.   They looked at their own veins and we talked about how blood flows through our veins and also nourishes our bodies.   We talked about the different types of leaves they found and what trees they came from.   They felt the texture of the leaves with their hands and experienced looking at the leaf through many dimensions, the first its natural form, then just the impressions, and then a skeletal image.  It was a wonderful start to our leaf exploration.  As this was two weeks ago, we have continued to examine and discuss leaves, more on that soon!

Sun-Print Bags

I always love it when Science and Art come together in a project.

The children explored the power of the sun, plants, and water absorption this week, and the results were beautiful.

I was interested in the idea of doing sun-prints, but  wanted to explore a different process rather than the sun-print paper that we have used in the past. As I searched for an alternative idea I found a post about sun-printing on fabric.  Here is the link if you would like to check it out: Sun Print Tote.  This was a great post, but when I tried the process using watered down acrylic paint, it didn't quite work.  But if at first you don't succeed, try try again.

Here's the thing about the process that I looked up, it spoke about a solar print, which it is, but how is it a solar print?   The method I was using was to use watered down acrylics, and place plants on the fabric.  Typically sun printing (Cyanotype, which is the technical process)  is done on fabric treated with light sensitive chemicals, or they use a light sensitive fabric dye, both of which are expensive and not the direction I want to go with 3-5 year olds. For these reasons I really wanted to figure out how to make this process work.

In my first attempt the plants shriveled away, I realized they needed moisture, so I went back to looking up various methods and read something about wetting the fabric first, and using a watered down fabric paint.  That was the trick, and what I realized is that while these are sun prints, one of the ways the imprint of the plant or flower is being made is that as the sun dries the fabric, it is also drying out the flowers and plants and naturally they are trying to absorb what water they can get.  The water available is the wet dye on the fabric, and there you have it, a sun print on fabric is made!  From the suns heat and power and a plants ability to absorb water through plant cells, the image is left on the fabric.

So, now that I have explained my process of discovery, let's take a look at how the children explored this process.

We of course had to go out and gather the materials for our project. 

The field next to the school had lots to chose from.

Our little gathers hard at work.

Heading back to the school to see what's next.

For this project I cut up a cotton blend sheet we had at the school.  We were making bags, so each child had a piece of fabric that was folded in half at the bottom to make the sewing easier. They then took a spray bottle of water and wet the fabric.

After wetting the fabric they went to work painting the fabric with watered down Setacolor fabric paint.  Some also used spray fabric paint that you can find at a craft store, the combination of both worked well.

After they painted their fabric they picked the leaves and flowers they wanted to add to their artwork, and pressed them into the fabric.

The children weighted down their objects with stones.

Some used a little more stones than others.

The fabric was left out in the sun for almost two hours (or till the fabric was dry).

While small groups worked with me doing their sun-prints, others were with my assistant adding food coloring to water and placing Queen Anne's Lace in their colored water.  Both projects approached the study of plants absorbing water from different perspectives.  It did not take long for the flowers to begin their transformation, but it was really the next day that the children saw how the flowers absorbed the water and with it the color they placed in their cups.

 

Back to our sun-print project.  After the fabric was dry, the children went to check in on their project, and everyone succeeded in making a sun-print.

I love how you can see the details of the lily.

Even the Queen Anne's Lace project that I wasn't sure would work, turned out great.

Even the tiniest flowers worked for us!

The next step was to get out the sewing machine, and have the children finish their bags.

This little sewing machine was one of the best gifts given to the school by my mother.  It is a travel sewing machine that has a bobbin, so it does a great and satisfactory base stitch, plus it is so easy to use, that the children love it!

We discovered it was a little hard for some of the children to work the petal sitting down, so standing was a better option.

This was a cute story, this little one put "Kitty Man" in her bag as soon as she finished sewing it.  The sense of accomplishment and pride is evident in her twinkling eyes even though her smile is being hidden by Kitty Man's smile, he liked it too!

Showing off a completed bag.  They managed to sew a draw string strap.  This part was probably the trickiest because some of the children  accidentally sewed over the ribbon, so some of the bags don't exactly draw shut, but it was all so impressive what they we able to accomplish. 

Another cuddle finding a fine home.

I'll end the post with this picture.  When I asked this little guy to freeze for a picture before running off with his bag, this is the pose and face he gave me, and then he was a blur running off to show his friends his bag; got to love the face, the bag, and the excitement he had to show the others.