5th Grade Food Sculptures

This is the same clay lesson I used with 5th grade last year. (View the original post here). We talk about Pop Art focusing on Claes Oldenburg's food sculptures. The students use handbuilding techniques to make small scale food sculptures- either just the food or food on a plate or in a bowl. 

I did find a new resource this year- the Whitney Museum of American Art has a Whitney for Kids section with a page about Claes Oldenburg.

I won't write too much since it's a repeat lesson, I just thought the students did a really nice job and I wanted to share their fun results!

There were lots of healthy foods this year.

And there are always lots of treats!

5th Grade Food Sculptures

5th grade students learned about Pop Artist, Claes Oldenburg, and viewed images of his food sculptures.    The students had 2 class periods to make their own miniature food sculptures out of air dry clay- one to construct and one to paint.  I showed the students how they could make their sculptures hollow to stretch their alloted clay further.  Some made pinch pots to stick together for the main body of the sculpture, some used slabs and coils, and some just made their artwork solid.  Pizza slices and hotdogs seemed to be the most popular foods at my school.  I took some cool photos of students acting like they were eating their sculptures but I won't be adding them since they show the students' faces.  This project was a big hit!

I like how this student made his orange not quite ripe!

Apple core with toothpick stem.

Burger, fries, and a drink.

Shake

Moldy Cheese!