Making Things: Art, Tools and Repairs

Grades K-5About 60 minutes a week

Drawing from life trains the eye to see what is really there, and fixing a real thing with real tools teaches care and patience. Both need paper, a table and a patient adult, not a screen.

What you need

  • Pencils, an eraser, a sketchbook
  • One of: watercolors, oil pastels, or magazines and glue for collage
  • Child scissors, a glue stick, an old towel for the table
  • A ruler, a screwdriver, a hand drill
  • Needle, thread and a shirt with a loose button

What done looks like

  • Someone else recognizes what he drew.
  • The work area is clean without a reminder.
  • Something in the house works because he fixed it.
  • A portfolio of finished pieces in more than one medium, picked by him.

What to do, grade by grade

  • K: draw a person or a pet with circles, ovals and lines.
  • Grade 1: draw an apple sitting on the table; cut a curved line; glue with dots, not puddles; talk about one painting.
  • Grade 2: pick one medium and explain why; set up and clean up alone; describe what a painting shows, then how it was made.
  • Grade 3: a still life of three objects; a real repair with ruler, screwdriver and drill.
  • Grade 4: a portrait with the eyes halfway down the head; favorite ways of working in his medium.
  • Grade 4: measure scrap pieces to the nearest eighth of an inch, then mark each length with an X on a line drawn from 0 to 6 inches (a line plot).
  • Grade 5: cook a full meal with you nearby; sew on a button or mend a seam; handle a household tool safely; choose his best pieces for a portfolio.

How to teach it

  1. For observation drawing, look at the object more than at the paper. Set a timer for ten minutes of looking and drawing.
  2. For portraits, draw an egg shape and a line halfway down. The eyes sit on that line, lower than most children expect.
  3. Talk about art in two steps: what do you see, then how do you think it was made.
  4. Setup and cleanup are part of the project. The table looks the same after as before.
  5. Wait for a real repair (a loose cabinet hinge, a wobbly shelf). You hold, he turns; next time, swap.
  6. He chooses the portfolio pieces and says why each one made the cut.

Safety: Tools come out only with an adult present. Drill with the piece clamped, never held. Needles go back in the pincushion.

Curriculum goals this sheet covers (14)

In the words of the grade-by-grade guide.

  • Draws a person or an object other people can recognize, using basic shapes and lines
  • Says more than one thing about a piece of art: what it shows, what colors, what the artist may have been after
  • Draws from something sitting in front of him rather than only from memory
  • Cuts along a curved line and glues without flooding the page
  • Uses one medium on purpose, watercolor or oil pastel or collage, and can say why he picked it
  • Describes what a painting shows, then separately describes how it was made
  • Sets up and cleans up his own art workspace without an adult resetting it
  • Draws a still life from observation with roughly correct proportion
  • Uses a ruler, a screwdriver and a hand drill for a repair that had to happen anyway
  • Draws a portrait with the eyes placed correctly on the head instead of near the top
  • Works in one medium well enough to have preferences inside it
  • Assembles a portfolio: several finished pieces in more than one medium, chosen by him, not by you
  • Cooks a full meal, sews a repair or a simple project, and handles a basic household tool safely
  • Measures to the nearest eighth of an inch and shows the fractions on a line plot

Goals covered: Draws a person or an object other people can recognize, using basic shapes and linesSays more than one thing about a piece of art: what it shows, what colors, what the artist may have been afterDraws from something sitting in front of him rather than only from memoryCuts along a curved line and glues without flooding the pageUses one medium on purpose, watercolor or oil pastel or collage, and can say why he picked itDescribes what a painting shows, then separately describes how it was madeSets up and cleans up his own art workspace without an adult resetting itDraws a still life from observation with roughly correct proportionUses a ruler, a screwdriver and a hand drill for a repair that had to happen anywayDraws a portrait with the eyes placed correctly on the head instead of near the topWorks in one medium well enough to have preferences inside itAssembles a portfolio: several finished pieces in more than one medium, chosen by him, not by youCooks a full meal, sews a repair or a simple project, and handles a basic household tool safelyMeasures to the nearest eighth of an inch and shows the fractions on a line plot

All real-world sheets