Introduce Beth Lipman’s Bride by looking at the work of art, asking the following questions, and sharing the below information as it supports student observations.
What do you see or recognize when you look at this sculpture?
What does it make you think about?
What do you wonder about when you look at this sculpture?
This artwork is ten feet tall and includes more than 500 glass pieces. As our eyes look down to the bottom tier, what happens to the glass objects? How are they different from the objects on the top tier? What’s the biggest object you can find? What’s the smallest?
This sculpture can remind us of a wedding cake with five tiers (or levels) to celebrate the marriage of two people. Have you ever attended a wedding? What was it like?
What special occasions does your family celebrate with cake? What is the fanciest cake you’ve ever seen before?
Make:
Students will make their own cardboard cakes, paint, and decorate them. This project can be done collaboratively in small groups or with individuals. Invite students to think about creating a cake for a family celebration.
Place cardboard boxes of all different sizes around the room. Invite students to go on a scavenger hunt for three boxes that are three different sizes, then ask them to arrange the boxes from the biggest on the bottom to smallest.
Ask the students to experiment with the best way to stack their boxes so that their cake is balanced. Help them glue the boxes together. Make a connection to how the bottom tier is wider than the tier on the top of Beth Lipman’s Bride.
Paint the boxes.
Mix the frosting – one part shaving cream, one part glue, and liquid watercolor. Mix the ingredients together with a large spoon or spatula.
Cover the boxes with the frosting using a paintbrush, foam brush, or with hands. The frosting dries with a fluffy texture.
Decorate the boxes with sequins, pom poms, glitter, confetti, ribbon, or other embellishments. Students can also roll up paper to make birthday candles for the cake. Ask the students to think about making their cakes glisten and sparkle like the glass in Beth Lipman’s Bride.
Ask students to share with a partner the family celebration they were thinking about when they made their cake.
Extension Activities:
Make the connection between Beth Lipman’s Bride, her inspiration from still life paintings, and her background in photography. Invite students to photograph their cakes in a still life scene. Give students real or play food, flowers, textiles for the table or background, and play animals or action figures to decorate their cake and compose a still life scene. Help the students photograph their still life scenes. Encourage them to find natural light sources and think about how their items are arranged.
Assessments
Ask questions about the artwork to assess listening and observation skills.
Observe students as they follow the process directions for making their cakes.
Lesson Resources
Vocabulary:
Celebration
Sculpture
Still Life
Materials:
Cardboard boxes of different sizes
Paint
Shaving cream
Glue
Spatula
Decorative embellishments
Reading List:
When’s My Birthday? written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Christian Robinson
