Greek vases

The 5th/6th grade was studying Greece, so I themed several art classes for them. This one involved the beautiful clay pots and vases (amphora) that the Greeks decorated with red and black graphic shapes and figures.

This allowed me to continue a theme of bold graphic elements in art as well as symmetry. I gave them a brief overview of the different shapes the Greeks used. The nitty gritty about the uses was not that important, but I did want them to get a feel for the diversity of shapes and hopefully inspire them to think creatively with their shapes.

Then I gave them orange paper and had them fold it in half so that when they cut it would be a complete vase shape.

 Next I gave them a brief overview of the different athletes and gods that decorated these vessels. Of course most greek athletes are a a tiny bit underdressed, which let to the expected tittering amongst the crowd.  Once the giggling settled down, I tried to get them to see that these ancient drawings were pretty basic.  Almost all the different shpes were carrot-like. Legs, arms, fingers...all different elongated ovals.