An Introduction to Sculpture

By Will Downes

In this post, teacher Will Downes talks us through a sculpture project he delivered with a group of Year 5 children, inspired by the work of artist Wassily Kandinksy. This project introduces children to the methods and principles of sculpture and could be adapted in terms of materials and content according to age group. The activity could also be extended across two one hour sessions.

Hanging shapes to a large line made from bamboo canes

As part of our school’s recovery curriculum the children in year 5 started the year looking at Alma Thomas. The recovery curriculum supports transition, and for this the children in each year group do lots of work based on feelings and emotions. This always has a strong art focus and Alma Thomas’ work with colour lends itself perfectly to link with emotions. The children decided which colours related to which emotions and produced their own work in response to the techniques Alma used. Alma Thomas inspired the likes of Wassily Kandinsky which is who we would focus on next. This gives the session below a great link to their previous work so they can build their skills and knowledge and create links between different artists’ work.


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