Our Year 6 students were studying ‘Boy Overboard’ in their English class and I was asked if the students could make a suitcase in Art as part of their response to the book.

We looked at Shaun Tan’s book ‘The Arrival’ and researched old fashioned suitcases before starting the project. Obviously we started with shoe boxes (most students brought one in from home, but I had also visited a shoe shop and they had given me lots of boxes) and lined the inside of the box with small squares of newspaper. (This was practise for the pets – see Barcelona Pets)

The boxes were painted on the outside with two coats of acrylic paint, and then the lid was joined to the base using gold split pins. (We used a hand drill to make the holes in the cardboard first)

The students were then given a variety of materials (leather scraps, wire beads, buttons, string etc.) to use to create the handle and fastening devise for the suitcase. Students created old-fashioned stamps and customised the interior with their own family photos.

Lesley Light
Beaconhills College – Berwick Campus
Suitable forAusVELS level 6