Using Art & Craft in the Classical Civilisation Classroom Sheena McCabe CAIT National Conference 15 th October 2011

Greek art – Vase painting

Breakdown for 40 minute lesson: Equipment needed: 2 glass vase (only 1 needed if it’s a small group) Newspapers P.V.A glue Black paint Orange & black crayons/markers/colouring pencils White paper Paint brushes Rulers Scissors Pencils (If you have the resources and want to speed things up – use black paper instead of newspaper & paint – less tidying up and needs no drying time!)

Plan for vase painting lesson: Depending on class size, divide up into groups. Each with students. Within each group assign tasks as follows: - 2 students tear up newspaper into ‘patches’, each a bit smaller than the palm of the hand. They then glue these pieces onto the vase, ensuring they overlap so no glass shows through. - 2 students measure out strips of paper to make the borders. They then come up with a simple border design, draw this onto their paper and colour it in (orange for the design & black for the background) - The remaining students each draw a figure to feature on the vase and colour it in (orange for the design & black for the background). It’s a good idea to give students a maximum height and width for their figure so that they’ll all fit on. Now all parts can be stuck onto the vase with P.V.A. There’s no absolute need but if you have the time and want the vase to have that extra gloss, put one coat of P.V.A over the entire surface!

The Romans – Money

Breakdown for 40 minute lesson: Equipment needed: Cardboard boxes Toilet paper P.V.A glue Bronze/silver/gold spray paint Scissors Decide what type of coins you want the class to produce e.g. Students’ own portraits, Celebrity portraits, Aureus/ Caesar / Venus / Aeneas. If opting for celebrities or figures from classical studies you could print out pictures of their head for students to work on top of.

Plan for Roman coins lesson: Each student should work on their own coin, weaker classes could work in pairs. Cut cardboard into a circle – with a compass or draw around a plate. If using a print out of a face, cut this out and stick onto cardboard. If not, students can draw the image onto cardboard. Using toilet paper dipped into P.V.A glue start to build up the image in relief (so that it appears raised off the surface – if it’s not in relief, the features won’t be clear when it’s sprayed). Ensure tissue is soaked in P.V.A and no dry bits are sticking out of the surface. Students can then use the same technique to add name and/or date (in Roman numerals of course!) When these have dried, bring all the coins outside and spray with bronze/silver/gold. Make sure this is done on top of a lot of newspapers!!

Greek Olympics – Olive wreath

Breakdown for 40 minute lesson: Equipment needed: Paper plates Cardboard Paper Colouring pencils/crayons/oil pastels Pritt stick Scissors Gold paper (if you want them to be extra special!)

Plan for olive wreath lesson: Each student should work on their own wreath. Cut inner circle out of paper plates and keep outer circle. Using colouring pencils etc. colour in paper in different browns and greens. Cut out a lot of different olive leaf shapes. Stick these onto paper plate so that all white is covered up. Ensure they are going in different directions to make it look more interesting! Maybe they could be used as prizes for a Greek Olympics event!

Greek Gods – Toilet roll model

Breakdown for 40 minute lesson: Equipment needed: Empty toilet rolls Thin card / paper plates Paper Colouring pencils/crayons/oil pastels Pritt stick Scissors

Plan for toilet roll model lesson: Each student starts with an empty toilet roll. Assign each student with a God / Goddess and their symbols. Maybe show pictures of them so that they have something to work from. Using paper & card, students can draw and colour in the arms, feet, head, clothes etc. Stick these onto the empty toilet roll so that the toilet roll is completely covered up.

Examples of finished Greek god Athena Cyclops Medusa

Other simple craft ideas include: Paper bag puppets Greek pottery made from paper plates Trojan Horse Masks – using same technique as Roman coin craft