Making a Mural With the Second Graders

Just spent all morning up at the school. The second graders had a school garden this year, and since Jenny, my youngest, is in second grade, the woman who spearheaded the gardening effort, asked if I would paint a mural, since, as she said, "You're kind of crafty, right?"

One of my big caveats when working with the kids is that the artwork should be THEIRS, not mine, so I started to think about how I could create a mural with 37 kids...Hmmm...

Eventually I settled on the idea that each kid would draw a picture of themself in the garden. They cut out their drawings, and today I pasted them down to the 4' x 8' plywood sheet that the kids had painted mountains and sky on.

It is the cutest thing! I was shooting for a primitive look to the whole thing, and we hit the mark!

I didn't take a picture while I was there today, but I will tomorrow when I finish up. I just love it. The piece will hang on the side of the building next to the garden--the outside border will be the signatures of all the kids. Perfect.