I have taught a lot of lessons centered around the art of Ancient Egypt and I have found the Egyptian Cartouche to be one of the favorites for my students, but sometimes it can also be frustrating. I've used everything from painting on wood blanks, to painting on card stock, to creating them in clay or paper maché. Recently, I was watching how some of my students really like working with a Sharpie and how they liked to color in the outlines with a variety of bright colors. As I watched, I found, even as 6th graders, they really did not have the fine motor skills for the really small drawings with small details. They actually made much more impressive drawings when they could draw a little larger. So, based on this observation, I now have a fail safe way to have students create an Egyptian Cartouche.
I must point out, sometimes my students make a cartouche that is very traditional with the traditional hieroglyphs. Depending upon the group, sometimes I like to push the students to use some of the visual symbols that are found in Egyptian art to create their own 'symbol' that they can put on their cartouche.
I bought Shrinky Dink frosted film ($4.99 for a pack of 10 sheets, 8x10). I cut the sheets into 6 pieces so I had enough film for 60 students to create a project. I gave the students a sheet of cartouche shapes to choose from and a couple of sheets with different symbols found in Egyptian art. Students were then able to create a cartouche design based on traditional Egyptian symbols.
Students traced the shapes they wanted to include in their design with a black Sharpie marker. Then, working on the frosted side, students colored their designs with color pencils. The next step was to use a hole punch to punch a hole at the top. (not too close to the edge) The final step was to put the plastic in a toaster oven for a couple of minutes until the design was shrunk down. (This is a process that students love to watch!)
Here are a couple of the designs my 6th graders came up with. The best part was the fact that every student had a successful project and every student was excited with their finished piece! They couldn't wait to wear them.
This is a great, economical way to approach intricate designs with students of all ages.
I must point out, sometimes my students make a cartouche that is very traditional with the traditional hieroglyphs. Depending upon the group, sometimes I like to push the students to use some of the visual symbols that are found in Egyptian art to create their own 'symbol' that they can put on their cartouche.
I bought Shrinky Dink frosted film ($4.99 for a pack of 10 sheets, 8x10). I cut the sheets into 6 pieces so I had enough film for 60 students to create a project. I gave the students a sheet of cartouche shapes to choose from and a couple of sheets with different symbols found in Egyptian art. Students were then able to create a cartouche design based on traditional Egyptian symbols.
Students traced the shapes they wanted to include in their design with a black Sharpie marker. Then, working on the frosted side, students colored their designs with color pencils. The next step was to use a hole punch to punch a hole at the top. (not too close to the edge) The final step was to put the plastic in a toaster oven for a couple of minutes until the design was shrunk down. (This is a process that students love to watch!)Here are a couple of the designs my 6th graders came up with. The best part was the fact that every student had a successful project and every student was excited with their finished piece! They couldn't wait to wear them.
This is a great, economical way to approach intricate designs with students of all ages.
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