Mobiles

When looking for a mobile project I wanted to do with 1st graders, I came across the work of Heather Frazier.

The simplicity and the repetition of shapes and the limited color schemes on many of her pieces speak to me.
Add the subtle movement and variation inherent in a mobile and she has something very special.

Pretty simple to adapt to small students. The project is good practice in cutting and gluing. Shape design is up to students, with 2 rules- make them as big as possible on the paper, and make sure they can cut the designs out. Don't make it too complex, in other words.

This is an easy way for students to create something together. They create their own garland mobile and then attach it to a wire piece with all the others.

The project can be completed within an hour, including a brief introduction to the artist and what makes the sculptural forms of mobiles unique to other types.

materials- armature wire, string, construction paper, scissors, glue, pencils, erasers

1. intro to Heather's work
2. drawing of shapes on a minimum of 5 folded sheets of paper. sheets are folded so students can cut out the front & back of the shapes at the same time
3. cut out shapes- keeping them grouped in pairs
4. lay out string and place shapes in the order you want to see them in
5. put glue on front of back shape from 1st pair, slide under the string and place front shape on top. creating a string sandwich
6. repeat this step until all pieces are glued to the string
7. tape individual garland mobiles to the armature wire bent in the form of a spiral
8. repeat with individual garlands until large mobile is complete

I sent Heather some info and pics of the project we did based on her work and she was kind enough to mention us on her own blog. Thanks!