Tuesday, January 23, 2018

ROBOTS! (Part 1)

Today we began one of my favorite projects -- BUILD YOUR OWN ROBOT.

Robots are the coolest! Not surprisingly, the kids have ample cultural knowledge on both what robots look like and what their uses are. So when we asked the question, "if I could design my own robot, what would it be like?" the answers were many!

We began with a large piece of black construction paper and some pre-cut pieces of cardboard. The kids used the cardboard to construct their robots one shape at a time, beginning with the largest pieces (body, head and limbs) and then moving to details. Over the course of a busy class we saw robots begin to emerge that had: wheels, buttons, hats, bracelets, crowns, belts, lightning bolts, along with limbs, faces and bodies of many different sizes and shapes.

Here is a sneak peek at the process. There won't be any pictures of individual work today - you'll see those when the kids are done!




Because this project is so intuitive and hands on, and because the kids are free to pick, change and arrange shapes as they please, they are constantly making new discoveries. "Hey, this triangle doesn't have to be a hat, it could be an ear!" Rectangles turn into hair. Triangles attached around the sides of a double thick square make a muli dimensional diamond controller (whoa!). The kids made so many new discoveries and were inspired by one another.

This gave us a chance to talk about how artists often borrow ideas from one another. To make work that inspires someone else is a compliment and should be received as such. Instead of feeling protective of ones work, we can feel generous and happy knowing that someone else admires what we have made.

The robots look amazing. Next week we will be painting them with silver (or gold, or bronze!), turning them into powerful, metallic masterpieces.


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