Tactile Texture Sticks

I was inspired by a post from @artwithmrsmac from earlier this school year. I was impressed with the simplicity of this tool and the size of this powerful teaching tool that will allow me to store them with ease year after year. @artwithmrsmac... This Minnesota teacher thanks you for inspiring me... Yah for the Art Ed Tribe! 

I used these sticks when talking about Tactile Texture. It was a great little 'cool down' from the activity that we had done in the hour. This support activity took 10 to 15 minutes. See the video below to get an idea of how I used the sticks.

Here are some of the tools I used to create my texture sticks. I thought about pipe cleaners and I think any pipe cleaners would work but I happened to have ordered this HUGE pipe cleaner set just to see what I could do with them.  I'm not sure at this point what else I can use them for, but it was perfect for the texture sticks :) 

A lot of our Art Rooms have a little extra Aluminum left over from students sculptures. After using a tool to press out some of the metal,  I added a little color to make it look more interesting and cut it to shape to glue onto the stick. I used hot glue gun for all of these sticks.  

Speaking of hot glue guns. I also experimented with these Cool Shot glue.  I thought this would be a good way to give students a feel for hot glue guns in a safe way. To be honest, I didn't get them out this year for student use... maybe next year. I did, however, use some of the color glue sticks to create a bumpy texture on one of the sticks. 

Tissue paper has a feeling like nothing else.  It was a good addition to this project.  I found using glue gun worked for the application but I did scorch my fingers once or twice... part of the job I think. 

These little fuzzy balls are another perfect fit. I think they worked well and I loved the bright beautiful colors.  It looks so inviting!  

I also used sandpaper, feathers, and felt. I have no tips or tricks for these three so I included them on this final image altogether. 

Overall, this was a great supporting activity for Tactile Texture.  I have posted often on Texture, please see the previous post to learn more.