A Gnome of Your Own
Chris Holt
My second-grade students were completing a unit in their classroom on fairy tales. I was asked Preparation
Construction
I cut up a couple of small tree trunks Each student selected a tree trunk sec-
in pieces ranging from 3– 4" in diam-
tion and went to work on it. Value was
eter with varying height (the tallest
recognized in mismatched beads or
to come up with a coinciding project
was about 7"). I used a small chain
leftover twine, which became a bucket
to emphasize the imaginative and
saw and made sure one end of each cut with a handle. Faded silk leaves and
magical aura of fairy tales.
was straight and the other was angled. ivy from a leftover floral arrange-
A few years ago,
You don’t have to be
ment further enhanced the project.
I attended the Phila-
an expert firewood I was asked to come
Students came up with great ideas,
delphia Flower Show
up with a project
cutter for this project. turning leaves into roofing tiles, beads
where the theme
I let the wood dry first into mailboxes, and mushrooms into
was Ireland. Among
to emphasize the
for several weeks so
umbrellas. To attach the details onto
the outstanding
that the sap would not imaginative and magical the rough bark, we used white glue
landscape exhibits
aura of fairy tales.
run when the wood
but I also used a glue gun for challeng-
were little gnome
was cut.
ing connections.
homes “planted” among the vegeta-
This project required few special
tion. They were the perfect inspi-
Motivation
materials; odds and ends were cre-
ration for this project.
Because students had been read-
ing fairy tales, they knew a great
atively used. It was a great way to
recycle items destined for the trash
deal about gnomes and fairies in
and the perfect project to engage stu-
the woods. I shared the book
dents.
Gnome, by Rien Poortvliet
and Wil Huygaen as a
Chris Holt is an art teacher at Shady Side
reference guide. Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
cholt@shadysideacademy.org
I also shared
an example I
made to show
Students identify connections
students how to between the visual arts and other dis-
attach windows
ciplines in the curriculum.
and doors using cut
colored paper, mark-
ers, cardboard, beads,
and other things.
www.elucinda.com/whimsical.html
Materials
tree sections ranging from 3– 4" •
( 7. 5–10 cm) in diameter to 7"
( 18 cm) tall
white glue •
scissors •
scrap box of colored paper •
leftover floral arrangements •
beads •
cardboard •
pebbles •
yarn scraps •
