Recyled Art - use those old CD's!

These projects in these photos were all done by 2nd graders. All these projects used old obsolete CD's that would have otherwise been discarded.

Earlier this year, my students in grade 2 learned about artist Romare Bearden. We noted the importance of music in his life, which is reflected in his colorful collages/paintings. The high school music teacher loaned us a guitar, a saxaphone, a tambourine, and more, and the students practiced drawing them while listening to some fun and funky jazz.

Then each student received an 18x24" sheet of paper with an old CD glued on it. The challenge was to incorporate the CD into a painting that reflected the feeling of the jazz music. CD's were turned into parts of musical instruments or musical notes.

The paintings were completed with rich colors of tempera, with white and black tempera details and outlines.

Here are some fun "Matisse-mobiles" made using the old CD's with wheels. We covered the openings with contact paper circles and inserted brass fasteners to make the wheels turn.

These flowers were also fun to make, using the CD as the center.

We've also used CD's in collages of robots, using the CD as the head or the body. That silvery round shape can inspire so many great ideas!