Fourth/Fifth Grade: Quilling

Posted by: TeachingArtontheCheap on: January 8, 2010

• In: Fourth/Fifth Grade | Lesson Plans | Social studies related
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Creative Reuse Lesson Plan         Fourth/Fifth grade: Colonial America

Written by Keri Piehl for SCRAP /Whitman ES 2009-10

Quilling

Cost per student: $.03

Materials: cardboard ( I’m using mat board scraps, even the backs of notepads would work, or cut up cereal boxes), white glue, colorful paper cut into strips (1/4”x at least 5”), scissors, pencils

Optional: Tinker Toy sticks, paper shredder

Students will create a work of art using quilling techniques to practice a craft popular with American Colonists.

Elements of art: shape, color, space, texture

Vocabulary: quilling, ironwork, decorative

1. To prep, send strips of colored paper (nothing too stiff, copy paper is preferable to construction paper) through a paper shredder that shreds strips. This will save you time having to cut strips. You can buy quilling paper, but these are scrappy lesson plans. Each student needs a back board; I am using tiny mat boards about the size of a coaster. A smaller “canvas” for this project will reduce frustration as it is hard to do a big design and this will help kids feel like they can complete the project.

2. In class, ask students what kinds of art projects the colonists might have worked on in their free time. Embroidery, quilting, painting, wood carving, and drawing might be good suggestions. Quilling is sort of an unusual art form; upperclass people had the time to practice it, since they probably had servants to take care of more mundane household tasks. Most quilling designs are reminiscent of the ironwork designs from the same time period.

3. A Tinker Toy stick is very similar to a commercially available quilling tool, and will help the kids get the hang of this more quickly. Slide the end of a paper strip into the slot on the end of the Tinker Toy. Hold it and wrap the paper around the stick, or twirl the stick to get the paper to wrap around it (not in a spiral, on top of itself like a cash register tape). Glue the end of the paper to the coil, and gently slide it off the stick, leaving it intact.

4. Spread glue on a small area on the cardboard, then lay the coil flat (think of a checker laying flat, not on edge, to get the idea) on top of the glue. Repeat with various colors. If you pinch one side of the coil, you can make a leaf shape or a form it into a crescent. Check this link for a chart of other options: http://www.handmade-craft-ideas.com/image-files/quilled-shapes.jpg

5. Fill up the space with various colors; make some coils tighter to vary the texture in your design. You can brush a glue water solution, or perhaps Mod Podge, over your quilled creation when the original glue is dry to help preserve the artwork.

Tags: color, Lesson, space, texture