The focus was for the children to experience the art of working with wire – bending, twisting,
curling, straightening and cutting.

The cardboard frame rings had been painted in a previous session and the wire manipulation activity took
most children about one and a half sessions.

In previous years work had been done with line drawings and I linked this element with this activity.
Children were asked to brainstorm different types of lines such as, curved, wavy, zig zag, straight,
thin and thick lines, dotted and dashed. We then explored which lines would be possible to form with
the wire. Children were also shown how to create a spring by twisting the wire around a pencil. Some
children then came up with other ideas such as wrapping some wire around an icy pole stick and then
stretching it slightly to create a 3 dimensional zig zag effect. Others wrapped the wire around a
skewer to get a tiny spring.

The children enjoyed the activity as it was something new and different. They had had very little
experience working with wire and liked experimenting with different thicknesses of wire to create a
variety of lines, shapes and patterns. The option was there to include beads and to select from
different colours of wire. Children also used tools such as pliers and wire cutters.

Two children enjoyed the activity so much they teamed up and came in during lunch times to make a wire
picture of the outdoors. They demonstrated excellent wire manipulation skills and showed just what can
be achieved with a bit of practice.

Upon completion the children were asked what they liked about their work and what challenges they
encountered. One of the more common challenges for the children was coming up with a design, because
the way I structured the activity was very open and they were able to simply experiment.

Heidi Willig
Visual Art Teacher
Kingsley Park Primary School
Suitable for Level 4