Wednesday March 9, 2022

From Concept to Construction

Lily and Cate reflect on their drawings of the Human Guardian before using natural materials to bring it to life

This week we are beginning the challenging task of taking all the previous ideas we've had for our guardians and constructing them. The small groups assessed their ideas first and thought about what they would need for each unique guardian. 

The Guardian of Humans

"These (feathers) will be perfect for the wings!" - Remy
"The flowers remind me of the flower sword I drew for her" - Cate
"We could cut it (pine cones) and add it to the dress" - Remy

After we thought about our drawings and how we envisioned the guardian, the Human Guardian small group took a trip to Tucker closet. We searched for materials that inspired us.  Remy found shiny material for the guardian's dress. Cate found flowers to add to the crown. At first, the idea of creating our guardian seemed rather daunting (too hard to do).

Cate and Remy share the materials they chose for the guardian

"What part will that be, Remy?" - Lily
"I got these! They are for the dress. We can wrap them around." - Remy

Lily comes up with a different solution. She decides to create a piece of the guardian instead of tackling the whole thing at once. Lily chooses to start with the flower crown. She uses wire and other natural materials to create it. The other members of the group notice her work and use similar strategies in their work

"I could wrap another layer around (my crown)" - Lily
"I'm going to make one like Lily" - Cate
"I made it straight. Then I turned it a little bit. Then I got wire and wrapped it around. Oh! I cut the wire. My next step is to find my next layer." - Lily

Wednesday, we decided to focus on the body of our guardian. The small group used chicken wire as a base for their work. Once we started building the body, Remy began to focus on weaving natural materials into the guardian. Her work got the attention of other friends in KW who wanted to help out. 

The progression of Remy's work on the body of the guardian

Jade notices the work on the human guardian

"WOAH!" Did you make that? That's amazing! Can I help you?" - Jade
"Sure." - Remy
"Would you like to find some materials to weave into the chicken wire?"  - Jordan
"I can help with that." - Jade

Lucas notices the work and chooses to come over and join as well

"Can I do the weaving?" - Lucas
"OK. The hand needs to hold the flowers." - Remy

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The Message Guardian

Finlay and Wilder use specificities materials on the floor to model their guardian

The Message Guardian small group decided to take a different approach began the process of building their guardian. They used their materials first to simulate what the guardian would look like first before starting the process of creating it. They also choose to incorporate their symbols into the work

 Finlay - (Finding a circular symbol).  This would look cool.  Since this looks really ancient, maybe we could glue it on to him.  This could be on the forehead. 
Lucas -  (Holding a large octopus symbol) Maybe we could use this. 
Wilder - We need to use these symbols (setting aside some of his favorites).
Jill - Jen suggested a way that we could include your symbols on the guardian.  We could make clay impressions of them and use them on the guardian.


The children agree that this is a good plan.  While working with the clay….


Finlay - I’m including everyone.
Wilder - Me, too.  
Jade - I’m including Bea.  

Having completed stamping the symbols in clay, the group continues to explore materials for the body of the guardian.  Jade had previously indicated that the body could be a box, so children looked through the boxes and considered the possibilities

Finlay - (Placing his favorite symbol in a box) Maybe this could be inside of here.  (Selecting a black box). I have an idea.  We can hide this material in here because it’s his weakness.  ( Finding a box that has a flip lid) Let me show you how this works.  It spring open to reveal what is inside.  
Wilder -  The scissors can be for the arms.
Everyone enthusiastically agrees. 
Wilder -  (Cutting ribbons).  These could be his legs.  (He arranges a guardian on the floor with a box body and ribbon legs.)
The scissor arms are very popular.  More scissors are needed and found.
Finlay - (Arranging scissors all around a box). This is my guardian.
 Wilder - He doesn’t have any legs.
 Finlay - He’s a ghost guardian.  
Meanwhile, Jade has found a shoebox. 
Jade - I think this could be the body.  (She wraps it with yellow ribbon) And this could be his belt. 
Jill - I remember that you though his body should be blue.
Jade - Yes, dark blue.  (She identifies the blue paper that she likes and using glue and blue tape, she and Lucas proceed to cover the box with blue paper.  Jade goes on to select another box that can be the head.)
Lucas - We can use buttons and you can press the buttons and that will make him function.  

The Message Guardian small group chose to focus on the arms for today's work. The group decided to create scissor arms, an idea that friends had previously agreed upon. They chose to use wire and used scissors to connect their materials and problem solved how to make them functional.

A prototype of one of the scissor arms

Finlay experiments with the wire and materials

Jill - What was our plan for the arms
Committee - With scissors!
Finlay - (Working with scissors and wire) I already made two arms
Jade - (With her wire and scissors) I think these should be the arms
Cape - (Observing the groups) Are you guys using scissors for the arms.
Jade - Yes. We have to attach them to the body.
Cape - Hot glue could attach it. I know.
Jade - I make things with my dad. We're making a birdhouse.
Lucas - This is how the arms protect the messages. Everyone who is trying to ruin the messages, these arms will cut them in half.
Jade - How many arms should he have?
Cape - Think 2 or 3 or 4
Jade - Do you think the face should be scary?
Cape - Yes. Like a red and orange monster face
Wilder - I think the head should be blue to match the body.