I requested Sandy's Circus, A Story About Alexander Calder by Tanya Lee Stone from the library a few weeks ago after reading about it on Almost Unschoolers. When the book came in, I really did not expect C and R to care for it, but I was wrong. They were both very interested in the artist and the circus he made out of found materials such as wire, cork, and paper. I had no choice but to find a YouTube video of Calder performing his miniature movable circus at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and believe it or not, C and R watched it three times. I was very surprised. When I previewed the video, I thought they would be bored. C was especially impressed that Calder made all of these circus figures out of wire, and he wanted to see more. So, shame on me for thinking that my children who live in a world of toys that do things by themselves and computerized thingamajigs that can do just about anything would find wonder and magic in art from the 1920's and 30's.
Since Calder invented the mobile, C and I decided to make our own straw and paper clips mobile using directions from Enchanted Learning.
Trying to get the mobile to balance became a lesson in patience for all of us! We are still working on it - balancing the mobile and finding patience!
We decided to take a break from balancing the mobile and take inspiration from both Calder's wire structures
and a post by Almost Unschoolers. I gave C and R some pipe cleaners and let them create their own art. They made pipe cleaner structures for quite a while, and everyone was happy!
I am linking this to stArt at A Mommy's Adventures, a great place to find book inspired art projects.
9 comments:
I never heard of Calder until I read about that book on Almost Unschoolers, but what a fascinating person! He was quite the engineer as well as artist.
I'm so glad you did this! I'm planning to do this as well. I love Calder's work! I saw his work for the first time at Whitney and enjoyed his hanging mobile very much!
It sounds like your thoughts on Calder, and the Circus book were very similar to mine - I was really surprised how much the children liked them both - but I think Calder is topping our list of favorite artists for the year - his work is so much fun to explore.
This makes me wonder about math and Calder. I love it when I can combine math and art.
Isn't it funny when your children end up proving you wrong?
Happy that they both enjoyed the book! The crafts are very clever and looks like they had lots of fun!
Enjoy the approaching weekend:-)
Kerri
I have to see if I can find this book. I am curious to see if Selena would enjoy it. I know my son would have loved a book like this.
This is great...I am going to have to look for that book!
Nice mobile! I suggested making a mobile to Anna, but she was simply not interested - we are back in "non-artsy" phase. I also didn't think that the book will be successful, but I guess it's very fascinating to children to see how adults pursue their passion from the childhood on.
This is such a creative project and this book looks very, very interesting. I love C's mobile. You ALWAYS find the best books!
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