Our Monster Friends

This spring I had such fun doing an art project with first and second graders. We created a banner for the Parent Teachers Association Auction, with the title "Our Monster Friends". To get the children started, I showed them photos of some of the mythical creatures I saw on a recent trip in Thailand, and asked them to consider whether a monster could be friendly (Many of the Thai creatures seemed as though they could be). The kids were particularly interested in the many armed Shiva. We had some wonderful discussions.

The children then drew monsters of their own creation and transfered their drawings onto silk squares. They painted the squares with silk dye, a parent ironed them to set the dyes, and I assembled them into a banner. I worked with the children to write stories about their monsters, photographed their squares individually, and assembled photos and stories into a book. I believe monsters the children created and their stories expressed a new view of "monsters" as different, but not necessarily bad.