THE 2ND ANNUAL MUNNY/FOOMI CHARACTER CONTEST!

A few years ago, while browsing around the Blick art store that I just love, I came across these little do-it-yourself toys from a company called Kid Robot, called a Munny.  I was very intrigued, so I bought a few, took them home and had a blast creating my very own 'toys'.  

"Zombie Mario", "Torch", "Allen Android", "Dug", and "Scratch" by Mr. Weller

After creating a few Munnys, I soon discovered that Kid Robot made a wide variety of do-it-yourself toys similar to the Munny such as the Foomi, Tricky, Raffy, Kracka, and Bub.  So (of course) I had to get some of those as well.  Over the years, I have created a nice little collection for myself AND have included them as a project in my Summer Art Camps the past few years and the kids just LOVE 'em.  So, I just had to figure out a way to get them integrated into my classroom.  And with a little help from our lovely Creekview PTO, I am now in my second year of doing the "Munny/Foomi Create a Character Contest"!

I have invited ALL the students at Creekview to design their very own Munny or Foomi for a chance to take their design and implement it on of the of the Kid Robot toys.  The contest started a few weeks ago, and all final submissions are due to me by the end of the week. February 22nd.  The kids are turning in some GREAT designs!!!  I will be hunting down some judges next week from the CIS staff to pick winners and winners will be announced on Friday, March 1st.  

Eventually as the winners finish their characters, I'll get some pictures on the 'ol blog and the Art Web! 

Thanks for checking in on the blog today!  

IN THE ART ROOM: January and February 2013

Upon returning to school from winter break, the fifth graders have been working on one of my personal favorite art projects; a monochromatic self-portrait painting.  I started the project by taking a digital picture of each of the kids by having them express an emotion or their personality in a facial expression.  The kids really had a good time coming up with different facial expressions, and it was fun to watch them practice making faces at one another while waiting to get their picture taken. 

Once their picture was taken, I printed them out as a black and white photocopy.  We then talked about monochromatic paintings; paintings utilizing only one color plus the addition of white to make tints of that color and the addition of black to make shades of that color.  Using the black and white image as a 'guide', the kids then painted themselves using a monochromatic scheme with the color of their choice.
Each year I try to do something different with this particular project, so this year we are creating a sculptural background for the painting using a descriptive word.  We are finishing up these projects this week and next.

"Cool" by H. Carvour; "Epic" by M. Speasmaker

After this project, the fifth graders will move into an 'Art Trading Card' project which I'm sure they will really enjoy!  

The sixth graders came back from break to the excitement of creating their clay project!  I have a variety of clay projects for sixth grade that I really enjoy teaching, and this year I went back to teaching one that I hadn't done in quite some time; Claes Oldenburg.  Oldenburg is a sculptor who creates larger than life pieces of art based on very normal, and often mundane, items.  He has work displayed all around the world, and we spent some time on Google Earth exploring many of his pieces of art.  So, the concept of this project was for each sixth grader to take something small that fits in the palm of their hand, and create a larger version of it using ceramic clay.

 

"Spoon Bridge with Cherry" in Minnesota; "Flying Pins" in the Netherlands

Over the course of the two day art project, I had kids create very large stamps, M&Ms, key chains, earrings, shoe strings, and paperclips just to name a few!  The projects are currently in the process of getting fired in the kiln and the students will paint them in early March.

Currently, as we wait for the clay projects to be fired, the sixth graders are taking full control of their own art making in a four day project I simply call "The Open Project" as kids are open to create whatever they wish, utilizing any material they choose.  We're halfway through now, and I simply LOVE giving kids the opportunity to be in control of their own art creation...especially at this age!  Stay tuned...I'll have more information on that project in the weeks to come.

Hope everyone is having a great February!  Happy Valentine's Day!

-mr. weller!