Rotation.org Writing Team

JESUS HEALS TEN LEPERS

ART WORKSHOP

PASSAGE

Story: Luke 17:11-19

Key/Memory Verses: Luke 17:15; Psalm 136:1

PURPOSE

Objectives for Rotation

See Bible Background.

Objectives for Art Workshop

Children will explore communication with body language.

Children will identify ways to show that we are thankful by our actions.

PREPARATION

Read Bible background.

Materials List

• Art Wire
  
• Bibles
  
• Crayola Model Magic air drying “clay” [Optional]
  
• Dowels, 1” size
  
• Drill
  
• Needle nose pliers with wire cutter, 1 per child
  
• Sandpaper
  
• Saw
  
• Tables, 1 for every 2 to 4 children
  
• “Twisteez” or “Wikki Stix” [Optional]
  
• Wire coat hangers
  
• Wire cutters, 2 or 3 [Optional]
  
• Wood for bases
  
• Wood glue
  
• Wooden poseable figure [Optional]
  

Advance Preparation Requirements

Search the internet using “wire sculpture, directions.” There are 250,000 items.
This article is a basic explanation: http://www.noteaccess.com/MATERIALS/Wire.html. The following articles are not written for a one hour class on Sunday morning but are full of teaching ideas and philosophy: http://www.bartelart.com/arted/wiresculpture.html; http://www.scholastic.com/artandwritingawards/brenner.pdf.

Ask to borrow needle nose pliers for the day so they do not need to be purchased. Be sure there is a name on each tool so it can be returned. Have additional wire cutters available, if the cutter on the needle nose pliers does not work.

Obtain art wire. At http://www.dickblick.com, 14 gauge sculpture wire, 350 feet, sells for $16.99. For each student, cut one 20” piece of wire for the head-body-legs, one 6" piece of wire to give the head a third dimension, and one 7” piece of wire for the shoulders and arms.

Cut wire coat hangers into four-inch lengths. Use a needle nose pliers to bend one end of the wire to make a circle. This is where the figure will be attached.

Cut wood into four-inch blocks, one per student. Sand each piece.

Drill a hole in the center of the base to match the size of the coat hanger wire and glue the wire in place.

As an alternative, purchase “Twisteez,” a brightly colored plastic coated wire. 50 wires, each 30” long, run about $7.49 and are also available as a bulk pack. A similar material is called “Wikki Stix.”

Set up several tables so there will ample work space for the children to spread out.

Borrow a small wooden poseable "figure" to demonstrate body language. If necessary, buy one at an art supply store for about $10.00.

PRESENTATION

Open – Introduction

Read Luke 17:11-19 out loud.

Ask the children: “What do you think the people with leprosy looked like?”

Read Leviticus 13:45-46.

Ask “What did the people with leprosy “look like” when they saw Jesus?” Some possible responses include: head down with arms outstretched – pleading, running, turning back to look at Jesus while running, or kneeling.

Dig – Main Content

Explain that each participant will have the opportunity to create a wire sculpture to represent one of the Ten Lepers healed by Jesus. Suggest that they might want to create the one who returned to give thanks.

Give each child a 20” piece of wire, a 6" piece of wire, and a 1” dowel. Instruct them to bend the middle of each of the pieces of wire around the dowel. Twist the wire
tightly 4-5 times to form the neck. Do not remove the dowel yet.

Give each child the 7” arm wire. Tell them to fold the wire in half and twist the fold so there is a small loop in the middle of the wire. Slip the small loop over one of the legs of the body, hold the arm section tightly to the neck and keep twisting the head and leg wires until the body is 3” long from the base of the head.

Remove the dowel and turn one of the head wires 90'. One wire will go up one side of the head and down the other over the ears. One wire will go up the face and down the back of the head. The head will appear "round.” Bend each arm piece ½” from the neck for the shoulder. Ask the children to think about the people in the story and choose one action they want their figure to do. Discuss how that persons arms, legs, and head would be positioned, and tell them to shape their wire person in that ways.

Give each person a wood base. Show them how to fasten the wire sculpture person to the wooden base/support using the loop at the top of the clothes hanger wire with a short piece of wire.

Each child may “dress his or her person making “rags” by wrapping wire around the small dowels or square sticks to add volume to clothing and hair that streams back when the figure runs. Don’t tell the children what to do, just show what happens when the wire is coiled around the dowel. The coils will be attached either by twisting several together or twisting one end to the body. They may cut these wires to the length they want.

Reflect – Closure

Ask each child to tell about their person and how he felt.

Ask if Jesus only saw the outside of the person.

Close with a prayer, such as:

Heavenly Father, thank you for seeing me and not just looking at me. Amen.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Adaptations – Younger Children

Use coloring pages to discuss body language, young children's drawing skills don't include "body language."

Adaptations – Older Children

They could add volume to the body using quick drying clay in addition to the wires or small strips of cloth.

CONTRIBUTOR: Carmen Peter