The Cardboard Sculpture

Cardboard is a plentiful recycled material we always have around the classroom. Our program collects cardboard from school shipments. Parents and teachers collect cardboard at home and donate it to our program. The children use cardboard combined with our supply of other recycled materials, tape, tacky glue, and hot glue to create and make their ideas come alive.

Cardboard is a fantastic material that is versatile, available, and flexible. Cardboard offers children endless opportunities to express their ideas.

On occasion, we have a cardboard surplus. I like to utilize the leftover scraps from project work instead of throwing them away. Using cardboard scraps for a new process art invitation supports the children in-between investigations. 

We encourage and support the children to create original work. When projects end, there is the time between each investigation as children search for their next challenge. A process art invitation gives children an opportunity to work together. Process art invitations fuel future collaborations in the program.

Next is the story of one invitation, a collaborative cardboard sculpture.

To begin creating the sculpture, I cut cardboard scraps into geometric shapes. I did this work because a very sharp knife was necessary to make clean cuts in the cardboard. I cut a groove at the bottom of each shape so the cardboard would slip together. The groove enabled the children to construct the sculpture.

We always want the children to do all the work involved in the creation process. On occasion, specific tools have a longer learning curve to use safely. When this occurs, we ask a teacher to complete this part of the work so the project can move forward. If the children want to learn how to use a specific tool, we make time available. Then we check with parents and coach the children in using that tool.

We invited the children to use geometric shapes, brushes, and tacky glue to create the sculpture. First, the children placed all the cardboard pieces together in a random design without gluing. The children attached the cardboard shapes only on one side, so the sculpture kept tipping over. The first challenge for the children was to figure out how to balance the cardboard shapes together so the sculpture would stay upright. 

What started as a process art invitation turned into a scientific challenge. The children were learning about balance and proportion. They talked about possible solutions to the balance issue and disassembled and re-assembled the sculpture many times.

After some discussion, plus trial and error, the children solved the balance problem. The children discovered they needed to balance the larger and smaller pieces on each half of the sculpture. Many children contributed to the initial sculpture work before three children created most of the final sculpture by gluing it together.

With teacher-initiated invitations, there is usually a burst of energy to try the project. After an initial burst of energy, a small group of children often take over and finish the work as other children move on to new choices.

Based on participation the previous day, I cut more cardboard shapes so the children could continue to work on the sculpture. At the beginning of the work session, none of the children wanted to help with the construction. Most of the children were playing a fun and active group game. 

When we start group projects, the children often move back and forth from the project. The children choose work based on the available opportunities. We always prefer the children choose their work since they can always return to the adult-initiated projects when ready.

The group game ended an hour later. A few children asked why I was sitting with the cardboard sculpture. I shared that I was preparing the space if anyone wanted to work on the sculpture. Four children decided to add more layers to the sculpture. The day before, children built long strands of cardboard shapes and left the entire middle section of the sculpture empty, so most of the work concentrated on the center of the structure.

I wrote in my observation notes, “The work on the sculpture slowed to a crawl after two days. I will ask the children what stage they believe the creation is at before the next work session.”

The following day, I asked the children what they wanted to do with the sculpture. None of the children shared an idea. I suggested we could paint it. None of the children showed interest. The children decided the day before was the last day of the cardboard sculpture invitation. 

A few months later, one of the children asked me what that thing sitting on top of the refrigerator was? I shared the story about the cardboard sculpture. After the story was over, we decided to sit together and add some paint to the sculpture. Then we returned the cardboard sculpture to the top of the refrigerator to share it with all the people who pass through our classroom space at school.