Mâché madness!

I am always amazed by the critical thinking skills students employ when we present them with challenging tasks and set them loose.  Today in Expressions, our task was to paper mâché the chicken wire chess forms students have been working on the past few days.  Because these chess pieces will be used outdoors on our new permanent installment chess board at the end of the Leading Edge hallway, we want the 18" tall game pieces to be sturdy for real life play!  A mâché recipe of flour and water was determined sturdier than the more commonly used recipe of water and glue.

As students entered class today, they were handed a mixing tin of 2 cups of flour to bring to their table.  "Mrs. Shane, are we baking in class today?"  I poured water in their mixture and told them to get it to the consistency of watery pancake batter...no lumps!  Offering spoons to mix or hand mixers set up along the back counter, students decided it would be more fun to mix with their hands.  I can't think of a better tool than hands!

We faced a few challenges as we began to apply the mâché...most common issues is what I like to call "bobble head syndrome."  Several of the pieces that had areas that were pinched in decided they didn't like the weight of the Mâché and so the wobbling began.  Students came up with several solutions to combat this problem, ranging from stuffing the interior with more chicken wire for support, to positioning wooden dowels just right to keep the forms upright.

We also had the issue of super messy hands and sweatshirt sleeves kept falling, so we decided to designate a student (who also happened to dislike the feel of the mâché mix on his hands) to be sleeve  puller-upper and phone picture taker.  LOVE when students are so into projects they want to capture themselves in action!