Paper Quilling, 5th Grade

The fifth graders have been studying the colonial times in their history class. To tie my art class into this, I had my students do paper quilling, which was popular around that time. Quilling involves rolling strips of paper, and shaping them into designs. I allowed my students to make any design they wished. Some students did flowers, some did fish, and others simply made nice designs. Before beginning this lesson, I showed the students many examples of paper quilling. We also practiced rolling paper around our pencils. (Some students may find this difficult at first, so making a few practice ones will help). I then showed the students several ways to make a paper quill. For example, the paper can be curled tightly or loosely. After it is rolled, the edges can be pinched or bent into different shapes. Lastly, everything was glud to black paper. These turned out wonderful! They will look even better when the glue dries. The huge glue globs are slightly distracting. I will have to go back and take more pictures later.