Friday, April 26, 2013

Extending International Dot Day


I am always looking for ways to extend International Dot Day and promote creativity. Recently, I was watching this video of Eric Carle and Mr. Rogers when inspiration struck.

Last year for Dot Day, my junior high chorus made awesome designs using "Washable Markers" and coffee filters. If you haven't seen this, the student draws on the coffee filter and when he/she is done, they are spritzed with water. The colors blend into an amazing piece of art.

The idea I got from watching Eric Carle create is that once the art has dried, it can be cut into shapes. I used Bot from Boy + Bot as my inspiration for the above pieces. Boy + Bot was written by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

A few precautions: you'll want to have something underneath the coffee filter when spraying it and make sure it is very dry before cutting. Also, as you noticed from the Boy on the right, they tend to curl a bit.

Special thanks to Shannon Miller who shared her students coffee filter creations that inspired me!

Give it a try!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Love! Love! Love! Mrs. Crook

Patricia T. said...

Thanks, you just helped me with an idea for my dot. I have trouble using my hands.

I commented on Peter's comment about the astronaut asking him to illustrate his book. But, is it possible that they could take International Dot Day into space and show a round picture of the Earth as their Dot from the space station? Hope you guys have thought about this -- it would become "cosmic" ?? Just me thinking out loud.