Collaborative Quilt--the paper variety

This example was done by my family when the children were 3 and 5. I liked my five year old's circle piece so much that I insisted we use it as the middle block.

Each artist will create 1 or more "quilt blocks" to be mounted together as a family project. Nice for those times we need to reemphasize our cohesiveness as a family!

I found this to be a nice activity for penmanship practice (without the letters). Lol. Learning to control one's writing doesn't have to be boring.

MATERIALS

**Simple blackline designs, 2" square each, at least 1 per artist, extras encouraged(Look in the Photos section for some printable ones, draw your own and copy them, or Use one of those graphic design type coloring books.) You can use all the same design or an assortment

**Black construction paper, cut into 3" squares

**Construction paper for mounting

**Markers--as many colors as you have

**Glue or tape

PREPARATION:*Mount 2" blackline designs on black paper.These will look awfully small, but the size of the paper will encourage pecision work. The Black mat will give a finger hold and disguise mistakes.

PROCEDURE:*Spread designs on the table*Each artist chooses one square (Don't forget yours, Mom!)*Require each child to do his very best coloring.*Allow full freedom of color choice and design. I ended up liking some of my kids' unorthodox combinations better than my own!Each little masterpiece will take between 10-15 minutes.
*Complete as many as they would like in one sitting. Or, have them complete extras throughout the week...Just be careful not to lose any!
*When all the pieces are complete, lay them on different colors of construction paper to dertermine the most pleasing background--do this as a group. Let each child choose his masterpiece to glue on and its placement on the background. Glue designs onto the background, quilt-block fashion.

EXTENSIONS:*Limit the palette of markers to 2-4 colors to encourage design planning and patterning. Show that one color shouldn't be adjacent to itself. Offer pattern examples such as checkerboards or repeating colors (for example...red-white-blue)*Use facsimiles of real quilt block patterns. Each person can color either entirely according to his tastes or with a limited color palette.This would tie in nicely with a culture or history unit such as Colonial America...*Have students design their own blocks on squares using black felt-tip pens. Start with a 4x4 square to allow plenty of room to "design". Shrink the design on a copier or scanner to 2x2 size for this project... this would be a good extension of the Line and Design Lesson*This project makes a nice gift for "Grandma" or other family members...They get a little piece of everyone's work in a nice little package. My mom loved hers for Mother's Day.*This project also makes really beautiful note cards!*Another Idea...Unit Review and Wrap-upHave each student design a quilt block that represents something about any unit you are studying (science, history or geography, Literature...etc.) using a black pen, line art or clip art. Reduce to 2x2, color, and mount.