Recycled Art

     This activity was all about reusing recycled material to make art.  For this project, we used crushed pop cans to create fish.  First, we painted our cans.  We were required to use at least three colors to make our fish.  I painted my can green, blue, and yellow with touches of black and white.  While our cans were drying, we all worked on an ocean mural reusing recycled bottle caps.  This mural would be in a display case along with our fish.  After the paint was dry, I added white and black dots all over my fish.  Another requirement for this project was to include at least two patterns.  My two patterns were the black dots and the lines on the fins.  Finally,  I glued on my googly eyes and my fins that I cut out of construction paper.
       An extension activity the students could do could be to find more recycled material either at home or around town and bring it to school.  With the recycled material the students brought, they could create their own work of art and write a story about their piece.  The students would be required to bring at least a bag full of recycled material.  While the students are writing, they could also include in their writing another way to recycle or reuse recycled material.