Have you ever observed glass? Artist Chihuly did, and the result is amazing art! Let’s celebrate this artist with 10 Dale Chihuly Art Projects for Kids.
“Glass is the most magical of all materials. It transmits light in a special way.”
Have you ever looked through a block of glass? The way the light reflects in so many different directions – it’s almost magical! And that’s exactly what caught the fancy of American artist, Dale Chihuly, who decided that glass was going to be his muse of a lifetime.
When you think of an artist, you’d expect a person with a dreamy, perhaps lonely expression, with eyes that seem to be seeing something others don’t. The last thing you’d expect is an artist wearing an eye patch like a pirate, but that’s Dale Chihuly for you!
A serious accident left him blinded in one eye, and another accident gifted him a dislocated shoulder. But none of this separated Chihuly from his first love – glass. Instead, he just changed his role and became a ‘choreographer rather than dancer’.
Chihuly’s work on glass is just incredible, and features details that would be hard for us to get on paper, let alone glass! So let’s introduce kids to this amazing artist with some super cool Dale Chihuly art projects for kids!
10 Dale Chihuly Art Projects for Kids
1. Chihuly-inspired Water Bottle Art Project
Plastic bottles can be a nuisance, but it can be hard getting rid of them too. Go the arty route like Woo Jr. and make this water bottle art project instead!
2. Dale Chihuly-inspired Glass Sculpture
This project from Deceptively Educational uses a lot of interesting techniques to make these beautiful ‘glass’ sculptures! This is better suited for older kids, but the young ones can still stand by and give a hand!
3. Plastic Cup Chihuly Art
If you’ve got transparent plastic cups lying around, you’ve got the perfect raw material to make some Chihuly-style art! It’s super easy to make – all you need is a toaster oven or OTG to melt the cups. Check out the instructions at Rubber Boots and Elf Shoes.
4. Shrinky Dink Mini Sculptures
Get your hands on some Shrinky Dink sheets to make these cute sculptures from Create Art with Me! You need a heat gun, so be careful but let the kids watch, they’ll love seeing the sheets shrink into concentrated works of art!
5. Plastic Bottle Wind Spiral Mobile
Dale Chihuly has some impressive hanging installations and Mum in the Mad House tries to recreate them with a plastic bottle craft that is quite unique in its own way!
6. Dale Chihuly Macchia Craft
This craft from Spot of Color is a fun one for kindergarten kids to try, using coffee filters. They can use any container to place the filter on, and add on colors to their heart’s content.
7. Chihuly inspired Sculptures for Kids
Life with Moore Babies has a project that even preschoolers can make! It uses silly straws made of transparent colored plastic, which helps give a Chihuly-like appearance to the final sculpture.
8. Chihuly inspired Cups Project
Chihuly’s glass blown sculptures have a beautiful kind of symmetry to them, not to mention the ethereal look of transparent color. Try out this cups project from Craft Whack to create a similar work of art.
9. 30 Minute Chihuly Chandelier
The Chihuly chandelier is a mesmerizing work of art, and you can stare at it for hours! Check out this DIY chandelier from K6 Art, made with transparency sheets.
10. Chihuly Inspired Kids Art Project
If you can get your hands on some heat crafting plastic sheets or Shrinky Dinks, do try out this lovely art project from The Crafty Crow – it’s truly frame worthy!
Going through Dale Chihuly’s work will open kids eyes to the fact that you can make art out of just about anything – even if it’s something seemingly impossible, like glass! Try out these activities and encourage kids to come up with their own ideas as well.
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