Pyrtle students bring Renaissance Era to life with creative soap carving project

February 21, 2025

Pyrtle Elementary School fifth graders made the worlds of art and history collide this winter by carving bars of soap into woodpeckers, turtles and flowers.
 
All fifth grade students at Pyrtle capped an Amplify CKLA curriculum unit on the Renaissance Era by copying the sculpting talents of Michelangelo, Donatello and Andrea del Verrocchio. They first drew images on paper and then used a toothpick-like tool to poke the outline on a bar of soap. Their plants, animals and people began to take shape as they whittled away the outer edges of the soap block.
 
Hannah and Mabel both said they enjoyed the chance to sculpt like Leonardo da Vinci. Fifth grade teacher Jacey Kinning gave everyone in her class five minutes to choose what they wanted to transform their soap bars into. Hannah looked at several birds and animals before deciding to create a woodpecker on a tree. Mabel picked out a picture of a person with the wind blowing in their face for her project.
 
“Honestly, it was last minute because we only had two minutes left on the clock,” Hannah said. “I thought once I looked at it that it was really pretty and it would be impressive once I made it.”
 
“I made this because it expresses my personality,” Mabel said. “I like to be a fun person. You get to see a lot of animals, but you don’t get to see a lot of people who have the wind blowing 100 miles per hour at them.”
 
Emily Wesseln smiled as her fifth grade class eagerly scraped off soap particles bit by bit. Students spent the unit learning how the Renaissance has impacted everything from music to mechanical engineering. The soap sculpting activity was meant to transport them back in time and help them understand how people lived then.
 
“It’s one thing to sit and read about something, but it’s another thing to experience it firsthand,” Wesseln said. “What was it like 400 years ago to try and do something like a sculpture? It’s fun for them because it brings to life what they’re learning. They’re making those connections by doing projects like this.”
 
Mabel said the hands-on activities made an educational impact in class.
 
“Overall I thought it was really cool how we could explore history and notice why art is what it is today,” Mabel said.
 
The Renaissance took place in European countries from the 14th to 16th centuries. It was a period that featured many discoveries and inventions in a wide range of subjects. Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus developed the theory that the planets revolved around the sun, Johannes Gutenberg created the movable-type printing press and William Shakespeare transformed the theater with his storytelling talents.
 
Before beginning their soap project, Wesseln asked her fifth graders to review concepts they had learned during the unit. Hands immediately popped up all around the class. They shared how the Renaissance affected the fields of architecture, art, education, commerce, engineering, geography and music.
 
Renaissance art was one of the topics that students like Nellie studied on an in-depth level. They learned how art patrons would commission sculptures, oil paintings and decorative items for their homes. Artists would work hard to remain employed across Europe, which led to the development of new techniques and ideas.
 
“It was very interesting to learn about how long it took these artists to do these things,” Nellie said. “There were very high expectations, so if they didn’t get it right at first, they really had to try and make it look as good as they could or they wouldn’t make any money.”
 
Students also discovered how difficult many of the Renaissance art projects were. Wesseln said they were amazed to learn that it took Michelangelo from 1508-1512 to paint the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. Students then taped a piece of blank paper to the bottom of their desks and tried to draw a picture while lying on their backs. They soon realized that it is not easy to produce art from that posture.

LPS K-6 English Language Arts Curriculum Specialist Lisa Oltman said the links between reading, history and art came alive during the unit. Pyrtle students learned about many art-based topics from art teacher Jenn Hermsen. Classroom teachers like Kinning and Wesseln helped them apply that wisdom in easy-to-retain ways.
 
“The fact that students have the opportunity to make connections to things they have learned in a different subject area and continue to grow their knowledge on that topic is really exciting,” Oltman said. “It helps students remember what they have learned and add to that learning over time.”
 
Wesseln said the Renaissance lessons have also helped students understand the value of perseverance, resourcefulness and workmanship. Hannah said all of those skills came into play when she carved her bird. She took her time studying how best to carve the woodpecker and tree, and her dedication led to a happy result for her.
 
“Being able to look at it and being able to be really proud of it,” Hannah said. “I’m doing this in like an hour’s time and I think it’s good for my first time doing it.”
 
Wesseln said she feels students will create many more bright academic frescoes from their time studying the Renaissance.
 
“It’s so much fun to see them take the material to heart and think about it on a deeper level,” Wesseln said. “Just from the conversations that they’ve been having, you can tell that they’ve really paid attention to everything we’ve been talking about, and now they’re applying it in so many different ways. They’re going to remember this for a long time.”
 
Visit home.lps.org/art and home.lps.org/reading to learn more about how LPS students benefit from studying those subjects.
 
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