The first graders have worked on their Matryoshka dolls for two weeks! The dolls stack inside of each other as we did a 3-D project with cups! The dolls were made on upside down cups and newspaper ball heads (see images) which made the dolls stack inside of each other! I was excited to see this project develop as it had many steps beginning with paper mache on each doll. The second step was to use color schemes to paint our dolls. We began with a base coat of paint with primary colors (red, yellow, blue) on the dolls, each having one color. Next, the students painted with secondary colors (orange, green, purple) adding lines, shapes and patterns using paint brushes and q-tips for details. The students choose neutral tones for the faces (tan, brown) and then the dolls were all covered in Mod Podge to strengthen and coat the surface. The last step was to add embellishments for faces including matching eyes and cheeks of buttons and foam shapes with a pipe cleaner smile! These dolls turned out wonderful and the students loved stacking them and creating roles for the dolls (usually family roles such as kids, siblings and parents) which was an interesting development to witness also!

Arty On!

This concludes my second week at SCPA and my first week of teaching projects from the beginning to end! I was so excited when my mentor mentioned her love for tiny little Matryoshka dolls (Russian stacking dolls). I was excited to work with her to plan this project! Several sets of Matryoshka doll examples, both 2-D and 3-D were on display for the students to see. Kindergarteners used stencils to cut out three different sized dolls. These dolls were decorated with lines, shapes and patterns. Then, they were glued together with popsicle sticks between to hold them up in their foamboard bases (making them look like large game pieces). Students chose matching eyes and cheeks from buttons and foam shapes and had a pipecleaner smile!

Arty On!