I went to the dollar store and bought loads of clear plastic plates and cups. Then I brought them to my kitchen. I held them up one by one with tongs over the heat of my stove and watched them melt. After doing a few, I was able to predict how they would melt and could turn them at the right moments to produce more interesting shapes. I piled them all in a garbage bag and toted them to school.
First, I showed the kids a great YouTube video I had found of Dale Chihuly in his studio explaining how he creates his amazing pieces. Then I answered a lot of their questions. Afterward, I asked the kids what they thought the art project was going to be. Some guessed we were going to blow glass, no. Some guessed that we were going to paint glass, no. I asked them what we might use that kind of looks like glass, but isn't as fragile. Finally, someone guessed plastic! So, I pulled out the melted plastic pieces and got oohs and ahhs. I showed them a few examples that I had done with Dorian (4 years old). We discussed how the side that had not been painted looked better than the painted side, it was smooth and shiny. So they each picked two melted pieces of plastic and examined how they wanted them to sit. Then they painted the back side of whatever side they wanted to look at. The project turned out beautifully!
When the projects were all together, it was really amazing. The day the kids got to take them home, I was standing outside the school waiting for Tristan. I saw a kid from his class run up to his mom holding his art piece with a proud look on his face, he said, "Mom, look what I made!" She wrinkled her nose and said, "What is that?!" It made me laugh to myself and wish that I had sent them all home with the following pictures. Enjoy!
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