Pretty purses and bulging backpacks and all around us! Design a distinctive bag with special features to accommodate a specific purpose. Sculpt your designer bag using Crayola® Model Magic® Modeling Material!

• 1.

  Why do people use purses, handbags, pocketbooks, and tote bags? Do you carry a bag to school everyday? Why is it helpful to have a backpack at school?

• 2.

  Purses and handbags have been a necessity long before the days of famous designers like Louis Vuitton and Gucci. The use of bags can be seen in ancient Egyptian artwork and paintings throughout history. Why would ancient cultures need bags? What purpose did bags serve before cell phones, house keys and schoolbooks? Research with your class to find examples of how bags and purses have evolved over time.

• 3.

  Imagine you are designing a new bag! How would you decide what features to include in the bag? Who would use the bag you design? What would they carry in it? Plan your bag design on a sheet of white paper using Crayola® Classic Colored Pencils. Use Crayola Model Magic Modeling Material to sculpt the design you created and bring your bag to life!

• 4.

  Build an armature for your bag design with recycled cardboard. Carefully cut the cardboard into shapes that will become the bottom and sides of the bag. When cutting the cardboard pieces, keep in mind that the finished bag will be slightly larger than the armature. Attach the edges of the cardboard shapes together with clear adhesive tape to form the basic shape of the bag design.

• 5.

  Place recycled newspaper over your work area for easy cleanup later. Cover the armature with a thin layer of Crayola Model Magic, pressing gently with your fingers.

• 6.

  Flatten a small handful of Model Magic on a hard surface, like a table. You can also flatten Model Magic with a rolling pin or by gently rolling a Crayola Classic Marker over it. Mold or use scissors to carefully cut the flattened Model Magic into pieces slightly larger than the armature. Drape the pieces over the armature like fabric to form the front, sides, and back of the bag. Model Magic that is fresh from the pack will stick to itself. Dried pieces can be glued together.

• 7.

  Enhance your bag with designer features! Roll long, thin snakes with Model Magic, and twist or braid them together to add an attractive accent over the seams of a purse. For a stitched look, attach a very thin Model Magic snake to the bag and press into it with the tip of toothpick. Make quilted textures by pressing tools, like a craft stick or fork, into the Model Magic.

• 8.

  Be creative with your design! Try out blending or swirling Model Magic colors together for exciting effects. Embellish your bag with added flare like buckles, jewels, and beads.

• 9.

  Store your bag in a safe place for 1-3 days until it dries completely.

Standards

• LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• LA: Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.
• LA: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
• LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
• MATH: Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm, kg, g; lb, z; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit.
• SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.
• VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.
• VA: Identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, and places.

Adaptations

• Invite a local fashion designer to visit with the class and share his creative process with students. The expert will be asked to share what factors need to be considered when creating a new design. How does the designer decide what ideas to develop and sell to the public? What inspires the designer to create new items or reinvent styles? After the meeting, students post learning to a class blog.
• Students collaborate in small groups to design the school bag of the future. Imagine it is 30 years from now. What types of school needs will students have? What will they be carrying? Crate a 3-D model of your design using Crayola Model Magic and recycled materials.
• Students consider the question: How do the pervasive use of electronics effect the need for items like school bags? If students will not be needing a school bag, what will they need?