December 16, 2022

Annual Faculty & Staff Snow People

Every year I provide an opportunity for the faculty/staff to create a snow person, snow globe, or snowball to put on display.  It is a wildly popular tradition that comes with a bit of lore.  The year I began this...we had a snowstorm, and were out of school for ten days.  The teachers believed the snow people brought the snow. So every year we continue on the traditions in hope that we get our max snow days! ha ha This year had AMAZING participation. We also had several teachers working together to make their snow people.  I loved the grade level that did Encanto!  SO. MUCH. FUN! 

For those wanting to do this project at your school in January...GO FOR IT!  I pre-make the snow people forms, and place them next to our faculty/staff mailboxes.  By doing this...it helps remove some intimidation for those who don't consider themselves creative & lets me control the size of the display (for the most part!?!?).   






 

December 02, 2022

Collaborative Winter Bulletin Board 2022

I do a collaborative bulletin board for winter every year. Here is the link to the post where I shared a lot of  past boards >>  https://www.artwithmre.com/2022/11/need-some-winter-bulletin-board.html

When I made that post we had not finished up this year's board.  I wanted to share it with you.  I love how cool & wintery it looks.  For those of you wondering how I do this...let me share.

The days before Thanksgiving break I have all my classes make parts to the board.  They are told from the start that they will be "gifting" this creation to the school to make it beautiful.  I've never had a problem where students negatively reacted to giving their work to the bulletin board.  They know it will be on display for three months, and they will get to see it every time they enter the school, go to lunch, related arts, or other times walking through the school.  I know I've had teachers in the past tell me they thought there students would not be able to part with their work.  I honestly believe if you tell them from the beginning the purpose of the project....they get it & will be totally on board! As the teacher, I cast the vision of what the finished work will look like, and the part the students work will play.  I keep the different parts to the board in baskets to stay organized (after they've dried...most pieces are painted or collage).  This is a great time to review some skills too!! (cutting, painting, gluing..etc)  Also feel free to have  some responsible older students help you with assembling the board when all the pieces are complete!