Salt Dough Maps

To further our discussion on geography, today we made salt dough maps of a state or country that we were interested in learning more about.   To begin I pre-made salt dough using 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt and gradually added water until the dough was thick but not wet.

I then found a topographical map of Italy on the internet which I printed and cut out.  I rolled out my dough on a piece of cardboard and laid the cut out map on top of the dough and traced the outline with a toothpick.  I removed the excess dough and set it aside.  Next, I removed the map from the salt dough and used excess dough to create the mountains of Italy.  Then I used green, blue, brown, and black paint to color my map to show the mountains, land, and water throughout the country.

Here is my map of Italy:

I used toothpicks and note cards to pinpoint some of the major cities in Italy.  

Here are some of the maps created by my classmates:

I think salt dough maps are a great way for students to be hands on with their learning.  I would use this activity in my classroom and allow students to choose their country or state within the parameters of what we are learning about.  This project is a great way to integrate Social Studies and Art.  

Shaving Cream Art

Tonight we created an art piece using shaving cream and paint.  I think this has been my favorite art piece so far! After viewing the painting Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh we were asked to create our own interpretation of that painting. I think elementary students would definitely get into this project!

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

Resource: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Night-Visions.html

Here is my creation:

                        BEFORE                                                            AFTER

I think my classmates enjoyed this project too!