I didn't spend very long on guided drawing since I needed to get on to the project for the day.  We started with a demonstration. This would be chaos if I had to demonstrate more than once, so everyone pay attention!  
This project can get a little messy, so we start with aprons or smocks. Paint can splatter!
Each student needs a partner.  Start with a blank piece of paper and a length of yarn, about 18 inches long. Provide any kind of paint and a sponge brush.  We used both acrylic and tempera paints and both worked great.  I like to use the small sheets of posterboard.  The glossy side works well with making the spiders later. Your first step is to have your partner hold the yard while you paint it with paint.  I like the variation of using two colors.  Just swirl them a little on the pallet and paint the paint up and down the yarn until your yarn has plenty of paint on it. 

This is Key:  If it is YOUR painting, YOU HOLD the string.  This is because you will be deciding where the lines will go on your painting.  You will be creating the WEB. 

You hold the yarn at each end in a firm grip very close to but not touching the paper.  Your partner will "flick" the yarn.  This is most easily done by pinching the yarn and pulling up slightly and then letting go.  If you hook the yarn with your finger it will pull it out of your partners fingers or will pull their hands together, losing the tension needed to SNAP the yarn back down and create the line.  We practiced this step with our partners before we painted the paint on the yarn so we knew how to get a good snap. If you hold the yarn too high you will also not get a good line on the paper.    

Have fun!  And leave me a comment.  I would love to know how it went for you!

I just love working on projects together as a class.  It is great to see how the kids feed off of each other's ideas.  In the early days of Flowerstone Art there was a lot of "She STOLE my idea!" and now things have changed and I hear "Who wants a great idea?" called out across the classroom.  This collaborative project still has an element of individuality since we aren't creating one big work, but working on our own projects using Stamps that each student has made.  

Using the hand drawing from last week (or a vase drawing) we planned to make rubber stamps from some blocks I made from 2x4's.  I used the white board to lead a discussion about the many shapes of flowers.  Making flowers on a rubber stamp is a lot different than drawing them.  We had to talk about how to make them out of SHAPES that could be cut out of fun foam and arranged on the block to create a flower stamp.  I had the kids try it on the white board a few times until I thought they had the hang of it.  Then they drew the flower on the paper side of adhesive fun foam.  I had them make the stamps from double sheets of fun foam to make them thicker stamps.  They cut out the shapes and stuck them to the block this week.  I'll show you the rest with a slide show to make it more interesting.  The finished projects are so beautiful and will be a beautiful exhibit at this year's art show!