Budget garage sale classroom resources

I picked up a great book about Australia at a garage sale for $2.00! It had fabulous images of Australian flora, fauna and landscape which I cut out and laminated. Instantly I had a gorgeous set of images to inspire the students in their drawing. They are very glossy and the students loved them! Many had images on the back also which is a further saving in laminating costs! We picked up a laminator for use at home for $50.00, so great value and convenient.

Stick insects

I think these stick insects in a natural habitat are fabulous. All you need are sticks, assorted debris from the garden beds and a hot glue gun. You will have to ask the students to design their stick insect and then you will have to use the glue gun! You could also make other creatures, real or fantasy. Costs very little, but a simple and fun idea. Great for a unit of work on sustainability.

Rustic colour mixing

My students love this activity. Fold newspaper three times to create a rustic palette. Add primary colours, red, blue and yellow to the newspaper plus white. Use medium size flat brushes to mix colour to paint but no water! Show students the artwork of Australian artist Queenie McKenzie as inspiration for painting the landscapes of the Kimberley region in Western Australia. Students can clean their brush from time to time by painting onto their palette but encourage them to take risks and discover what wonderful colours they can create by mixing. The newspaper palette can be folded together to spread remaining paint, left to dry and used for future collage projects, or left-over paint used in a communal artwork with a similar theme.