The primary school chose to work with an African Art theme to print fabric which was then used to make costumes to wear for a dance performance.

The children and I researched African Art, shapes and symbols.  We then used wood and foam to create printing blocks, by drawing the design on the foam, cutting out the relief and sticking the pattern onto the wood using strong double sided tape.

We printed the repeating patterns in dark brown Acrylic paint onto large pieces of cotton muslin material in a mixture of different colours.

After the printing paint had dried, we added highlight details using white acrylic paint.

During this project, I also taught the children how to use a sewing machine so that we could sew together the material into a simple wearable costume.

Parent volunteers also joined this project to help with the large quantity of the costumes that were being made but the design, printing and process was carried out by the children.

We also designed and made African spears to use as props in the dance.