Oldenburg-Inspired POPsicles

Instead of doing a clay project with my fifth graders this year, I decided to have them do small sculptures, a la Oldenburg. I found this lesson via Pinterest and knew I wanted to try it!

Miss Caruso (my student teacher) taught this one from start to finish and did a great job! To begin, she shared with the kids some Pop Art, including photos of works from famed soft sculptor Claes Oldenburg. She did an awesome job getting the kids to guess what materials were used, and how big the sculptures are in person. We found this video, which the kids loved:

Next up, she had the kids make their very own twin pops!

Using a toilet paper roll (or paper towel roll cut in half lengthwise), each kid smashed and folded their tube, then cut it to the proper shape:

Then closed off the entire top and bottom middle with masking tape:

Stuffed it with paper towel pieces to give some body:

And glued in some popsicle sticks to finish 'er off:

On the second day, kids painted their first coat of acrylic paint:

While the first coat dried, students worked on brainstorming their own proportion-funky sculptures via a worksheet that Miss Caruso developed. By the end of class, second coats had been added.

On the third and final day of the project, kiddos added other colors to finish off their Pop Art popsicles!

The majority of pops aren't very realistic (despite discussing this point and encouraging students to make a popsicle that a grocery chain might actually want to sell) and some of them are sloppy, but the kids liked making them and were thoroughly exposed to Oldenburg, sculpture, and Pop Art. So while I might alter the painting stipulations if I do it again, overall, I'm happy with the results.

And now I'm hungry. Again.