Making 'Doodle-balls' (LOVE them...as do the tweenies)

It was after-school art session number 3 yesterday.  The heat was on.  The children were tired as, (am sure its the time of year) so out came the choccy biscuits (SO not homemade however good my intentions) as a bribe  treat to bolster them all up for some making.

I actually needn't have bothered with the biccies, the children LOVED the activities this week.  We made Christmas Decorations, the green Decorations from this tutorial (See below) and also...(See even more below... we made Beaded Hearts...

 

The Session practically ran itself and the children found it impossible to tear themselves away.  Its incredible how much these offerings engage them.  They LOVED doing them and loved watching them.  The immediacy of the making definately had a part to play here - they could see their makings coming along nicely every step of the way.  To find out how to make hearts, click here.

Further to the beading and sequins, I also ran an option to make a 'Doodle-ball'  I think the idea of these is truly inspiring and love the way it stretches out our thinking about drawing.   Pure thanks to these fabulous people at Accessart for coming up with the idea.

Righto, a 'Doodle-ball' is just that, a ball covered in paper that you can draw on and all over, letting your thoughts wonder as they will.  They are FAB for active learners and can be added too at anytime...just pick them up and carry on.

To make a Doodle-ball you need:

A hand-sized ball.  A tennis ball or Christmas dec is good, try to remove the nobbly bit first though.
Glue, PVA is best
Mid-sized paint brush
Paper, cut up into double-stamp sizes
Pen or Pens for drawing..

Gather your wares together...

2.

Take your small pieces of paper and layer them onto your ball, all over until its completely covered. Two layers is great too.  Lashings of glue here until the paper is flat with no sticky-uppy bits!  Then dear hearts, when its fully covered pop it into the airing cupboard or on a radiator to dry.  Don't do any drawing until fully dry..

3.

Here we have our ball fully covered and about to dry.

3.

Once your ball is dry it's good and ready to go.  Begin drawing and let your drawing go where it wants to go.  Enjoy the process, its a lovely way to draw.

Here is a 'Flower Ball' made by the originators of this fab idea at Accessart.

Enjoy x