Mouse Art Projects
The diminutive mouse may not be the first animal to pop into your mind when you think of animals worthy of high art, but a variety of art projects and crafts featuring the small creatures are suitable for artists of all ages. From simple paper crafts to mouse-inspired recreations of famous portraits, mouse themed art projects engage artists young and old in a new spin on classic art project ideas.
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Mouse Paper Crafts
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For young artists, paper crafts are a simple introduction into basic art concepts. A paper plate mouse activity is a playful art accompaniment to a mouse themed story or poem like "Three Blind Mice." A folded paper plate serves as the mouse's round body, and pipe cleaners, black pompoms and yarn are suitable whiskers, eyes and tails. For more advanced crafters, use paper bags to create mouse puppets. Gray paint creates a mouse head and small pieces of gray felt are mouse ears. Use the puppets to put on a class play or read along with a mouse-themed story.
Mouse Cage Interior Design
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Mouse cages are typically simple, standard designs with limited embellishments beyond those included for function. Transform simple mouse cages into festive art dioramas with a mouse cage interior design project. Challenge students to decorate the cages in a theme that reflects an imagined mouse personality. For example, a mouse cage may be decorated with miniature rope lights, miniature posters of a rock band and a mini-bar in the spirit of a mouse bachelor. Another option is to invite students to decorate a mouse cage that reflects their own bedroom style or theme.
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Mice as Men
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Take a step toward the surreal with a project that reimagines famous figures as mice instead of men. For beginners, a mouse cut-out or tracing provides the basic shape and design for the humanoid figures. Students then add accessories like paper hats, mustaches, or clothing to depict their chosen famous figure. For more advanced artists, drawing or painting the mice is up to the student, and the drawing may also incorporate background images that give hints as to which famous figure the mouse represents.
Contemporary Mice
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A mouse-themed contemporary art project bridges the gap between surrealism and modern art. Build students' prior knowledge of modern, contemporary and pop artists before assigning the project so that students' have a framework for creating their pieces. Students may either recreate famous pieces of modern and contemporary art with mice rather than the original subjects, or create original pieces in the style of a famous modern artist. For example, a student may opt to create a mouse portrait series in the format of Andy Warhol's famous color-adjusted silkscreen portraits.
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References
- Photo Credit mouse image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
