Compass Designs

Next week in all 2nd grade classes we will learn about color "recipes". Each child will be like a chemist and create a unique new color by mixing their own combination of the primary colors and/or white.

This week we made a wonderful design of where these new colors will be painted.

We used a compass to make designs on an 8x11 card stock. Each child created a fairly simple yet beautiful design on their paper and then traced it with sharpie.

If your child has a sketchbook and a compass you could let them create their own designs at home. You could also explain how generally compasses are used with maps and mapping out routes. The compasses are sold at pharmacies, dollar stores and office supply stores if you do not have one.

Included is a video I found that extends this idea to other creative ideas. You might want to try this at home if you have your own compass. Remember though, what we made at school was a much simpler version of this. Nevertheless, if your child is very excited about the compass as a medium for art you might want to watch this and other videos to get them hooked! I am certainly hooked myself.

This could also lead to looking at Arabic art which has a lot of geometric patterns that interlock as well. To read about Islamic art and math go here.

Would love to hear about YOUR family's adventures with the compass......