Hundreds of parents, and numerous grandparents, attended fine arts classes with their children at Husmann Elementary School in Crystal Lake this week.
In 3rd-grade art class, with sleeves rolled up, hands and forearms covered in clear, slimy glue, parents and children plastered long, narrow strips of newspaper onto balloons blown up to the size of a child’s head.
The children gleefully accepted help from their parents as they began three-dimensional self-portraits, which will take several weeks to complete. The papier-mache project involves building up chins, eyes and noses, adding hair and accessories, and finally painting their creation.
Older students studied the different styles and interpretations of portraiture by looking at a variety of work from DaVinci through Picasso. “Each student selected either a realistic or unrealistic approach to completing a self-portrait,” said art teacher Amber Larson.
“I never had a chance to experiment with art when I was in elementary school,” said Elaine Krallisch, whose daughter Terry attends 5th grade. “This program is excellent. It gives parents a hands-on experience in the arts with their children.”
While students and their parents were busy getting messy in art, others were puffing heavily in the gym. Trying hard to keep up with their children, adults jumped rope, climbed through hoops and rolled around on the gym floor while seated on a tiny, square skateboard.
They learned about how blood travels through the heart in the “Heart Activity Adventure Challenge” obstacle course through the cardiovascular system.
“While we traveled through the left side of the heart, we carried a red ball representing a blood cell full of oxygen,” said Fran Tropinski, whose daughter, Sammy, attends 3rd grade. “While traveling through the right side of the heart, we carried a blue ball which represented a cell carrying carbon dioxide.”
“The killer-mobile was the worst,” Tropinski said, referring to the tiny skateboard. “We had to sit on it and push ourselves through part of the obstacle course.”
After sweating it out in gym, parents and their children trekked to the music room where they sat on the floor and learned a couple of new songs.
Music teacher Donna Ladner said, “The students here love to sing.”
The Fine Arts Parent Participation Program is designed to allow parents to experience their child’s curriculum.
“Many parents don’t get much feedback from their children when they ask them what they did at school,” Larson said.
