Art Projects for Sunday Church School: Using Markers

This series of blogs about including art in the Sunday Church School will offer a variety of art techniques and ideas. Each week will focus on one medium, offering a tutorial for one project (which can be used at multiple age levels), as well as several other suggested ways to incorporate the medium in other projects. The purpose of the series is to offer Sunday Church School teachers ideas which they can keep in mind for future reference as they plan to use art in their classroom. Each technique can be applied to a variety of lessons, whether Bible stories, Church history, lessons on the Faith, etc. For the purpose of keeping it simple, the cross will be used in each illustration throughout the series.

 

Markers of all sizes should be a staple in the Sunday Church School classroom. Both wide-tipped and fine-tipped washable markers are versatile for use in art projects with children of all ages. Older children can safely use permanent markers (wide, fine, and ultra-fine tips are available) as well, greatly expanding the variety of surfaces on which the art can be created.

Here is one way to use markers in the Sunday Church School classroom: create a piece of zentangle-inspired art. Zentangle is an art process that begins with basic shapes drawn in marker, overlapping each other, creating a variety of different new shapes. After that, all of the empty spaces are filled in with color or repetitive doodles. Zentangle-inspired art can be done with wide or narrow markers, depending on the skills of the artists, and only requires two basic materials: thick paper and markers. Note: depending on the degree of detail that the artists use, this project can be very time consuming. It could be completed over a period of several Sunday Church School classes.

First, draw (or trace) the main image on the paper. (Zentangle is usually drawn on 3.5” squares of paper, but zentangle-inspired art can be used for any size of paper.)

Add additional squiggles or shapes to fill up the paper.

Fill in every “hole” with repetitive doodles and/or solid blocks of color.

Your art piece is finished!

Find the answer to the question “What is a Zentangle?” here: http://tanglepatterns.com/zentangles/what-is-a-zentangle

 

Here is a link to an idea page with a free printable pdf of some basic doodle ideas, as well as many ideas of ways zentangle (at the end of the blog): http://tinyrottenpeanuts.com/zentangle-patterns-starter-sheets/

 

Here’s the blog of one parent who is using zentangle with a five-year old: http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2014/02/zentangles-with-5-year-old.html.

***

Children of any age can use washable markers to color on coffee filters, spray with water, and watch the colors spread and mix. This is effective for a “rainy” scene or to create a colorful paper that can be used to create something else such as a butterfly as demonstrated here: http://savegreenbeinggreen.blogspot.com/2014/03/try-it-tuesday-coffee-filter-butterfly.html?&cuid=acdff711a7fea12e0459a453f73ed5ef, or a snowflake as demonstrated here: http://handmadekidsart.com/how-to-make-a-snowflake/

***

Tie markers together with rubber bands to make multiple lines at the same time, as illustrated here: http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/07/drawing-in-bunches.html?m=0

***

Create an object lesson about the beauty of the individual being greatly enhanced in the context of a group, as this teacher discussed with her class, and then use permanent markers on clear plastic cups, baked and shrunk to create “glass” as mentioned here: http://alexisanneart.blogspot.com/2012/02/5th-grade-dale-chihuly-installation.html

***

Create colorful coasters with plain white tiles, permanent markers, rubbing alcohol, and a sealant as demonstrated here: http://blog.sharpie.com/2013/04/coasting-into-spring/

***

Sunday Church School students can collaborate on a group project, each using markers to create one (or more) square(s) of a grid. When put together, this grid will create a piece of art (in this case, a face). http://mseatonsart.blogspot.in/2012/11/this-lesson-originally-came-from.html

***

Permanent marker on cotton fabric (tshirts or socks work well), with rubbing alcohol dripped onto it, creates a tie-dye effect as demonstrated here:  http://blog.intellidance.ca/blog/4-22-2012/simple-tie-dye-using-sharpies.

***

Make beautiful “embossed tin” art with aluminum and permanent marker, as demonstrated here: http://babbledabbledo.com/art-ideas-for-kids-embossed-tin-art/

***