It is customary for teachers to ask their students to write or draw their experiences of their holidays when they come back to school. Instead, provide students with a shoe box to collect souvenirs, such as pictures, pebbles, ticket stubs, wildflowers or other natural and man-made artifacts. If you have the same class two years in a row, which is customary in some Reggio Emilia schools, ask students to collect souvenirs over their summer break. If you only have the same students for a year, students can collect artifacts over Christmas break or spring recess. On the first day back at school, allow students to present some of their mementos to the whole class. Ask students not only about what they saw, but what they heard, smelled, tasted and touched. Provide students with a range of craft supplies like card stock, glue, pipe cleaners, clay and paints. Ask students to make an art piece of their own design with their artifacts. They can either create a piece reflective of their holiday or of something completely different, which will provide hints of what they are interested in learning. Allow future lessons to stem from this process. For example, if a student brings in a cultural poster that many of the students are intrigued by, you can facilitate a lesson on world cultures in the near future.
If you are teaching a life-sciences lesson on plant varieties, a culiminating activity can focus on art. On a sunny day, tell students they are going outside to collect plant life. The only direction you need to give them is they should collect more than one plant or tree item, from the ground or from a live patch where the plant is abundant. Once back inside, provide students with paints and paper and ask them to use their collections to create a painting. Some students may use branches or leaves as brushes. Others may trace their plant specimens or use paint to stick them to the canvas. As students work, point out to the class the names of the species that each student collected expressing the variety of the natural world.
One key element of the Reggio Emilia approach is the desire of children to interact with one another and the respect for each child as individuals. Roll out a long piece of butcher paper and tell the students that they will create a mural with the theme "The Class Community." Tell them that anything is allowed on the mural, as long as it respectful to everyone in the class. Before they start, brainstorm with the class what they think the word "community" means. Questions they ask you can guide future lessons. Every time you elaborate on the concept of community in future classes, allow students to add to the mural.
Facilitating an art activity that incorporates shapes and colors can be geared for the youngest or oldest of learners. Make some charts to hang on the wall, for students to refer to, that are age appropriate. For example, younger students may benefit from looking at a chart of primary colors and what happens when some of them are mixed; they also can look at a chart of basic shapes with their names. Older students can look at three-dimensional figures and more complex color combinations along with the color wheel. Ask students to create an art piece that involves experimenting with color mixing and shapes. Provide a range of materials. Encourage students to mix other colors other than those presented on the charts. Older students working with three-dimensional shapes may benefit from having access to straws, clay or pipe cleaners.