A Lemon Juice Miracle!

My students are drawing from fruit arrangements that are placed in the center of each table. Since I'm new to this whole "teaching drawing thing", I was hesitant to use fruit because of its short life-span. But decided to do it anyway.

In the morning as I prepared and arranged the plates for each table, I dipped the cut apples into lemon juice, knowing that doing so would slow the browning process. As an extra precaution, I also painted the fruit at the end of the day with more lemon juice and covered it with saran wrap (providing a tight seal to the cut pieces), and left them on the tables over night. I did all this, hoping for the best....but expecting the worst.

Hooray - it's a lemon juice miracle!! It didn't just slow the browning process...it practically prevented it - even un-refrigerated! This photo is the fruit on DAY #2! Clearly, you can sense my excitement! I'm pleased by the simple things.

My students are drawing on paper that can become the pages for their future books. Since all levels of my students are mixed together in one class, I find that a simple observational drawing activity is a great way to help my new art students feel comfortable drawing, while allowing my more experienced students the freedom to hit the ground running.