Thursday, August 18, 2011

X-Ray Art for Children inspired by Aboriginal Art

This is a great activity I developed and published previously.
It received much interest, so here it is for the first time on my new blog,  Elle and Lou.
 If you enjoy it please follow along for more
 children's art ideas-especially ones that incorporate recycling!

Check out these crazy flip flop fish.
They are made from recycled thongs bases.




This images are inspired by Australian Aboriginal X-ray Art.
This style of art has been documented to have been around for at least 4000 years.
The X-ray style features organs, bones and wonderful patterns as you can see in the examples below.


From Wiki Commons Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

Our goal was not to copy the Aboriginal art style but to appreciate the imagery and history of the indigenous works.


Long neck Turtle

The thong is almost as Aussie as a Vegemite. It is a contemporary icon that exemplifies our laid back lifestyle and as such it seemed a  perfect choice of 'canvas'.




These flip flop fish were completed with pencil and texta in colours that are reminiscent of the ochres used on the x-ray bark paintings. We discussed what the students might consider including and they decided that pattern, a spine, ribs etc and maybe an organ or two could be useful but was not a prerequisite. 


If you were integrating with science or simply wanted to link more closely with biology the students could research animal organs etc or conduct a dissection first (my husband is a science teacher so he gets really excited about this part).



They look great displayed together and the primary students were intrigued to go a find out more about  Aboriginal art. 


If you want to replicate this you could use any old shoe base- so you are recycling too-what can be better?




Like this? Follow along:
http://www.facebook.com/ElleandLou
https://twitter.com/#!/ElleandLou











I'm pleased to be sharing this post:

Photobucket

23 comments:

  1. what a great idea! thanks for linking up ; )

    ReplyDelete
  2. Super cool! Thanks for stopping by today! I love hearing from bloggers from different countries! I Soooo wanna visit Austrailia!!! Btw..great blog
    www.moddybee.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a fantastic idea for repurposing flip flops. They look great.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How cool to repurpose those flip flops. Thanks for sharing with my newbie party.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, those are great. Your kids did a great job! What a clever idea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These are amazing....I can't think of any kid who wouldn't want them! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those are really cool and best recycle!

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is cool! I love that artwork...fun, original and inspired by history/culture! Great project.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I bet that was a fun art project for all the kids. Each one is so different.

    I want to thank you for leaving a comment for me. I think it is wonderful to get to know a little bit about my party participants. I think it also encourages others to visit. Thanks for taking the time to do so :)

    xoxo Bunny Jean
    Home to Wednesday's Bunny Hop Party!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is so cool! I love how artistic you are! Thanks for your comment on my blog!
    Melissa
    www.sweetcoconutlime.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a fun fun project! Thank you for linking to Wicked Awesome Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
  12. thanks for leaving a comment on my blog!
    i totally used to be an 80's girl in high school. i still have a soft spot for the 80's, but i figure i should keep that a secret with the intense styles of the era!
    love the shoes.
    thanks for stopping by!
    {love} lauryn @ lovenotesbylauryn.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Super cute!

    I'd love for you to link up to our Crafts for Under Twenty Somethings party going on now. It's a blog hop specifically for kids and teens related "stuff", so your post would be perfect!

    Melanie
    http://bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com/2011/08/crafts-for-under-twenty-somethings_24.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. These turned out great, I love them and would love to try something similar with my preschool kids!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a BRILLIANT way to recycle flipflops! I ADORE them! Wonderful!

    Maggy
    (And thank you for joining in at Kids Get Crafty!)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great idea! There's lots of Native American designs that could be incorporated here in the US. Thanks!
    XoXoXo
    Joy

    ReplyDelete
  17. Tooooo cute! In fact, Uber cute!

    Visiting from Bunny Jean's Wed Bunny Hop Linky Party today,
    ~Suzanne in NW Illinois

    ReplyDelete
  18. These are so cool! I love it when a art project ties in with other lessons, it makes the learning experience so enjoyable, at least it always did for me.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is such a fabulous idea. With winters round the corner, the old flip flops can be painted into these beautiful fishes.

    Thanks for linking up at Tea Time Thursdays @ Kreative Korner and adding to the fun. This post has been featured on Kreative Korner. Feel free to grab the 'Featured on Kreative Korner' button from the side bar and to use it on your blog.

    The party for this week is going on... hope to see you there again :)

    http://tanyaanurag.blogspot.com/2011/08/tea-time-thursdays-4.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love the x-ray aspect and the clever idea of upcycling those flip flops. Thanks for sharing on Monday Madness!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Just posted about this on Craft Gossip...this craft is amazing...so creative!

    http://lessonplans.craftgossip.com/?p=4967

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thank-you for posting this on Craft Gossip. I am very humbled by your comments! Lynda

    ReplyDelete
  23. I didn't realize you had another blog. I am now following this one as well as your ubsavvy blog. So glad you linked up at the blog party. I am honored to have you there.

    This is a really fun art work. I love that it has tradition. Every single one is so interesting.

    ReplyDelete

I enjoy hearing from you.
Thank you for your taking the time.