Wire Sculpture Initials

Last week in my art classes we made wire sculpture letters. I have seen this idea on various blogs. We used: 16 gauge galvanized anchor wire from the hardware store (100 foot roll, about $3.50)/ leftover beads, yarn and pipe cleaners /glue gun and hot glue sticks or glue /wire cutters/ pliers /scissors to cut yarn lengths

We drew some letters on the board to help visualize how to bend the wire. I gave each student a pre-cut wire about 40 inches long. They were able to bend them with their hands. I had a few pliers on hand but found most students needed adult help with the twisting together of the ends of the wire.Use care, the ends can be sharp and can poke neighbors as the letters are formed.

Once everyone had their letter formed, they could choose yarn or thread or pipe cleaners to wrap around the letter. If they use yarn, tie the end of the yarn to the wire and glue it on with a drop of glue from the glue gun. An adult should use the glue gun. Hot glue will badly burn skin. Regular glue could be used, but does not hold instantly like hot glue. Knot again at the end of each yarn length and glue.

My second class mostly used the pipe cleaners to decorate their letters, and this method went more quickly. Wider yarn will also cover more quickly. We used some donated thread/yarn that was quite a fine weight, and it filled in the letters very slowly. Next time I would not offer the thin yarn. My first class will be finishing their letters this week. These classes were 4/5 and 6th graders.