Have you tried altering a book? It’s the most versatile of mediums. In fact, a book can become anything from a substrate to a card to a book to even a sculpture! On the other hand, it takes practice to master the raw materials and obtain real craftsmanship. It’s a wildly fun journey!
I am a big fan of taking a lesson and modifying it to suit my students. My eureka moment occurred years ago when I was teaching elementary art but attended a high school art workshop on graffiti. Adapting it to suit my students was intuitive and the students loved learning about the original topic but at their level!
In my new resource – Altered Board Books for Kids – you will find 3 lessons for elementary BUT you can easily adapt it for older students. Included with the lessons are pages of inspiration, additional ideas, images and even the history of altering books. This is a K-12 and homeschool resource.
The lessons included are:
1. ABC/123/Self Portrait Book
2. Henri Rousseau/foreground/middleground/background Book
3. The Golden Fish (Russian folk tale about greed)/Gyotaku (Japanese fish print)/story in a story Book – The Golden Fish can be painted, printed (if you have the rubber fish) or collaged.
After reading the entire 18 page document (so much content!) you will have an idea of where you want to go with this. Step by step directions are included with the 3 lessons. You can adapt them to your needs. Visuals to use in your lesson – both visuals of the lesson and visuals to use in your lesson!
Essential question, standards, extension, my adapted/shortened Golden Fish story, ideas for paper engineering (fringe, pop ups, quilling), extension ideas and extension examples. Also are 2 Art Tutorial posters for you – Cutting & Gluing. Finally, a mini poster (a Thank You gift) –
an Altered Books poster that is display ready. Endless possibilities to Enjoy!