bookmaking workshop: kiddo version!

This week I taught a bookmaking workshop with Arts Outreach to nine little kiddos, from 7 years old to 12. Overall, it went really well! The kids were really enthusiastic about all the projects and making books! I wish they were all a little older though so I could teach them some more complicated binding techniques. Because teaching binding to little guys can be hard! 


I tried to take more photos this workshop too. My other two workshops, weaving and printmaking, were pretty poorly documented. There may not be many photos of this past week, (if a workshop is never photographed, did it ever really happen?) but at least there are some!


My favorite bits are all the titles they came up with, and all their spelling errors. I'm an obsessive speller but I'm so entertained by little guys spelling mistakes. 


I started off the week with making my little paper bag notebooks. Great way to introduce them to binding, especially since it's a really easy one and requires very few complicated or expensive materials. Just some paper bags, scissors, glue and clamps! And little fingers to smear the glue into all the cracks along the spine. 


We also bound some abstract books. I had the kids cover pieces of paper, front and back, with random collages of papers and drawing. Then we cut them up into pages, leaving the final result of the book a surprise until it was fully bound up. This was another easy binding, the good 'ol rubberband and paperclip technique! 

I wanted them a learn a really easy real binding method as well, so I taught them a basic 5 hole bind on another day. They loved it! (after a few knots and tangles of course) Most of the kids made more than one book this day, including mini books. These were probably their favorite to learn. One girl make a second one and started embroidering the cover. 

The big project for the week, and my favorite, was the altered book project. Like other times I've taught this, I first had the kids use baby oil and pastels on a big panel from a paper bag and just cover it in color. Once it soaks in a bit and I spray it with some sealer, the paper takes on a colorful leathery look. We used a bunch of old books of my sister's collection and used those as our canvases to rip/destroy/draw/paint/collage/sew etc! These were my favorite products from the class. I think the kids enjoyed it too, having the opportunity to freely destroy and alter a book to their liking. It took them a little bit to get used to the idea that they could draw on any and every page and it was allowed!