“I looked at my gourd from different angles and it looked like this end was like a trunk. So, I made it into an elephant,” said Anika who painted her gourd gray, and added some big floppy ears.
Aubree said she really likes cats, so her plump round gourd was the perfect body for a chunky calico cat. “I used clay to make the rest of the cat’s head and paws. It was a really fun project because I like to be creative and I really like art.”
That’s exactly what teacher Teresa Michalski wanted in the project. “Sometimes I don’t think we give our students enough time to be creative and use their imaginations,” she said. Students each selected a gourd and were allowed to have family members help with the transformation.
The second part of the assignment was for students to write very detailed instructions on how they made their project. Students focused on being concise but also detailed so someone could follow their instructions and know exactly how their gourds were transformed.
Liam said he was brainstorming and looking at his gourd from different angles. “It kind of reminded me of a tadpole. I go to my grandma and grandpa’s house and we find tadpoles there a lot so that’s what I made.”
Kohlton loves the ocean and anything to do with the creatures that live there. He immediately thought his gourd looked like an octopus. He painted it pink, added tentacles and built a home using a shoe box, sparkling seaweed, rocks and cutouts of other fish and sea creatures.
Makinlee thought her round gourd was the perfect size of a small serving bowl. “My dad helped me carve it out and then I filled it with Captain Crunch cereal and put a spoon in it,” she said.
Elizabeth transformed her gourd into a red mushroom with white spots. “I liked the project because it was something I could do and be creative and have something I made in the end.”
Andrew took one look at his gourd and said he knew he had to make a football. He painted brown and added white lacings. He even added “NFL” on the side to make it look official.
Hannah and Will created fall decorations. Will turned his gourd into a turkey, complete with tail feathers made from paper leaves and paper towels. He even made a Pilgrim hat for it. Hannah created a beautiful fall scene with her gourd transformed into a tree covered with brightly colored leaves falling on the ground around it.
No doubt after this creative project students will see much more than just an odd-shaped gourd.