Art Assemblage with Kids // Pinecones & Pasta

Assemblage is the art of assembling bits and pieces together to make 3-dimensional art. It can, and often does, involve collage. We’ve tackled assemblage before when the kids made these gorgeous trees. This time, however, we didn’t do much gluing. These latest pieces became more like sculptures than collages. The kids painted, beaded, and wrapped, enjoying each new step in the process. To me, these are some of the most beautiful things they’ve made this year. Art isn’t always about beauty, especially with 4-yr olds who are more interested in the process than the product. But as a graphic artist I am drawn to design and aesthetics. And to me, these sculptures could be in a museum!

Supplies:

Phase one

~ Twigs & pinecones (I was fortunate enough to find twigs with the pinecones still on them! Early April in Connecticut is pinecone heaven, apparently)

~ Pasta (I dyed some of mine using this technique, but you don’t have to since they are getting painted)

~ Tempera paint

Phase two

~ Yarn (if you want to wrap two branches together, or even just to wrap around one branch)

~ Craft wire

Process:

Phase one

~ Kids painted the twigs and pinecones first. They noticed how it was hard to paint in all of the nooks of the pinecone. They quickly figured out that they needed a new “dabbing” technique.

~ Next they painted the pasta. This is actually challenging! They are slippery when wet so there was lots of giggling when pasta went flying across the table.

~ They put their pasta on plates to dry.

Phase two

~ At the next class, I put all of the dried materials out. I have to admit that at this point, I was planning on making mobiles with them. But the pinecone twigs were really fragile, so I made a decision that we needed to wrap them together with the sturdier stick. Once I told the kids we were going to do this, one of them said, “and we’re going to wrap the wire, too!” I thought for a second, and then said, “Yes!” It felt right to just go with what they suggested.

~ They beaded their wires first.

~ Then they carefully wrapped their twigs together with yarn. (I tied and trimmed the yarn.)

~ They were now down to two parts which they had to put together.

~ Lastly, they wrapped their pasta-beaded wire around their twigs. This part was the coolest because they saw it all come together! Ok, maybe it was cooler for me than them. They were ready to move on to the next project, but I was literally jumping up and down and clapping at their creations (weird art teacher)!

I have, like, 25 photos of these guys! I could not stop.

This pasta art project is actually part of a blog-hop between me and some other artsy moms. We call ourselves the Rockin’ Art Moms! (We have a pretty cool Facebook page and Pinterest board, too….come follow!) Above is a collage of all of the other projects that you can see today. Aren’t they crazy cool? Did you know you could get this creative with pasta? Here are the links starting from top left (some will go live later on in the day so check back):

Macaroni Frames // Pink Stripey Socks

Art Assemblage with Kids // Art Bar

Painted Macaroni Necklaces // MollyMoo

Pasta Necklaces // Mer Mag

Pretty Pasta Pendants // Pysselbolaget

Pasta Sculptures with Preschoolers // Meri Cherry

Macaroni Pom-Pom Flower Necklace //  Willowday

Pasta Art Activities for Kids // The Artful Parent

A Modern Macaroni Masterpiece // Handmakery

Stained Glass Pasta // Babble Dabble Do

Pasta Drawing Prompts // Picklebums

Painted Pasta Art // Learn Play Imagine

Mosaic Art Project for Kids // from Buggy and Buddy

Macaroni Mosaics // CraftWhack

Spaghetti Tower Marshmallow Challenge // Tinkerlab (not pictured above but super awesome)

Also, the Rockin’ Art Mom’s want YOU to join us! If you are feeling inspired and want to try a pasta project of your own, we are opening up this challenge to everyone!

Here’s how it works: Create your own unique pasta project (or do one of our projects) and post a picture in one or both of these two places:

1. The Rockin Art for Kids Facebook Page

2.  Instagram using the hashtag #TheMacaroniChallenge (we decided that sounded cuter and more retro than pasta challenge, ha!)

Challenge ends on May 3rd, 2015. During this week the Rockin’ Art Moms will be sharing some of our favorite projects on our Facebook Pages.

BONUS: Everyone who joins us in the challenge will be entered in an amazing Rockin’ Art Moms Gift Basket giveaway. The winner will be selected at random from the entries and announced on Instagram and the Rockin’ Art for Kids Facebook page on Sunday May 3rd, 2015. DEADLINE EXTENDED to Sunday, May 10th, 2015!!

Prize basket giveaway will include books from the Rockin’ Art Moms:

The Artful Year from The Artful Parent // Playful from Mer Mag // Tinkerlab from Tinkerlab // 150 Screen Free Activities for Kid from Fun at Home with Kids // Happy Handmade (ebook) from MollyMoo

I hope you guys try!! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!!

xo, Bar