Arts & Handcrafts

Santa Cruz Waldorf Students Create Art and Reflect on the Legacy and Activism work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Building off of these projects, both from 2nd and 3rd classes, what are ways that you can harness the stories and deeds of great leaders current and past to make art work in the form of collage, performance & parade, and paintings with?

Below, are a list of active leaders in the realms of social justice and climate justice, and gender equality to draw inspiration from.

Greta Thunberg/ Climate Activist:

https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg/

Malala Yousafzai

https://malala.org/malalas-story

Amanda Gorman/ Poet & Change Maker

https://www.theamandagorman.com/

Dried Citrus Garlands

Step One: Slice the fruit into 1/4″ slices and carefully remove the seeds. Use a wide blade knife to ensure uniform thickness of individual slices.

Step Two: Preheat your oven to 250 and gently pat your slices dry between two towels (the more moisture you can soak up, the faster they’ll dry). Place your slices on a cookie rack and place the rack on a baking sheet–this will help more air circulate around the slices, again helping with drying.

Step Three: You can bake for a full 12 hours, flipping them over half way through, or if you’re short on time you could do 6 hours instead; they’ll dry more as they’re hanging.

Step Four: Once you have all of your slices, gather some string and a needle. Cut a long piece of string and use your needle to poke through each slice. Tie them at the top so they’ll lay flat.

Some Fall Artwork from from 3rd, 4th, and 7th Grade Classes

Nature Paint Brushes

Sticks (1 for each paint brush)
Lots of interesting pieces of nature (that have fallen from trees, bushes)
Elastic bands (or string)
Paint (this could simply be water, watercolors, or a tempra based paint)
Large roll of paper

Collecting your nature for this activity is half the fun! Perhaps on a hike, or outside in your backyard, look for fallen leaves, pine bunches, and other grasses that could be used as the head of your brush.

Making the nature paint brushes is easy: Simply attach a piece of nature to each stick using an elastic band (or a piece of string).

TIP: To avoid breaking your pieces of nature put the elastic bands onto the sticks first and then slide your pieces of nature into the bands. Make sure the elastic bands aren’t too tight. You may need more than one band to keep your nature in place.

Miss Ivy’s Spookily Delightful, Zero Plastic, Halloween Crafts!
-Shared by Miss Ivy, Garden Instructor

Find fallen leaves and twigs in your backyard or on a walk. Come back home, and with materials such as tempra paint, string, a single cardboard egg carton piece, design your very own leaf ghosts and spider web set. Make sure you lay out some newspaper under your leaves and egg carton before you begin painting!

Leaf Rubbings
Shared by Steve and Richard,
Rosemary and Lavender Kindergarten Teachers

Leaf rubbings are easy and beautiful, and can be elaborated on however you wish. As leaves can crumble and patterns can only half come out or take time to appear, this project can be great for persistence.

What You’ll Need:

Leaves – all different shapes, sizes and patterns Paper
Crayon

Lay a leaf or a few leaves out on a flat, smooth surface.

Place paper over the leaves and press flat

Then, color over leaves with a bit of pressure. The shape and pattern of the leaf will appear as an outline amidst the color of the crayon.

Fall Wands
Activity Shared by Hailey Villa, Rosebud Preschool Teacher

INSPIRED CREATIVITY Ideas for the Summer, Shared by Anne Cleveland
-Choir Instructor / Image of

Build a Fort with Blankets & Pillows, Homemade Domino Runs, Homemade Marble Runs, Watercolor Painting, Drawing, Beeswax Creations, Clay Creations, Make up a new board game, Make Potholders, Learn How to Weave, Friendship Bracelets, Beading bracelets and necklaces, Make Earrings, Make Fairy Houses, Drawing From Nature, Make a Mobile With Natural Materials, Make a Nature Table, Make Sock Puppets, Dandelion Bracelet, Mud Pies, Book Marks, Homemade Envelopes, Make, Write & Send Letters and/or Postcards, Make Believe w/Silk Scarves, Press Flowers, Make and Fly a Kite, Build a Bird House, Put Together a Model Car, Blow Bubbles, Draw On the Sidewalk With Sidewalk Chalk, Make a Wreath for the Door, Make a Crown, Make Stars for the Window, Make a Calendar for the Year w/Original Pictures, Learn to Knit, Learn to Crochet or Felt, Learn How to Spin Wool into Yarn, Create a Put On a Puppet Show, Make Paper Flowers, Make a Book w/ Drawings and a Narrative,Make a Book Cover for a Treasured Story

Fairy Dolls
Shared by Dexter Brightman, First Grade Assistant and Afterschool Program Director / April 29th, 2020

Gnomie Doll Sewing Project

Method:

Starting from the inside, bottom corner of your gnome’s coat, stitch up the front until you reach the collar. Tie off your thread and continue, starting from the inside, forehead of the cap.

Once you have reached the top, you may either tie off your thread, or, if you have a small ticket such as a bead, small bell, etc., you may tie that at the top.

After your gnome’s coat is all stitched up, go ahead and finish it by stuffing it with wool!

*Either blanket or running stitch are recommended for this craft.

**If you would like to sew on a bottom piece to your gnome, you can use the red piece of felt in your bag and measure to size by tracing a circle around the bottom of your gnome’s coat. This part is a little tricky, so help from a parent to finish this part will be needed.

–Shared by Hailey Villa-Brightman, Kindergarten Assistant / April 27th, 2020

Color Exploration
Start with three inspiring colors, embroidery, color, paint, or knit these next to each other in the form of any geometric shape. How do they respond and talk to each other? Do these colors look different next to each other than they did on their own? Now add three more, and on and on until you think your new color world is complete! Share with the Waldorf community what you’ve made.