An Oldie but Goodie - What If Picasso Made Witches?

This project has been around quite a while, but it's a good one. 
I used it as an introduction to the abstract artwork of Pablo Picasso for my 3rd grade students.

We talked a bit about color choices when they picked the colors for the face. Looking at the color wheel we discussed what colors would be contrasting and stand out next to each other and which ones might blend more together. Ultimately, they could chose any two colors they wanted!

We also discussed what a profile was and how it differed from seeing a face from the front view. 

Students had a lot of fun creating their witch or monster. We started by cutting out a face shape from the two colors they chose for the face stacked together. Then they drew a profile on one of the pieces, cut it out, and glued it to the full face shape. 
I gave them examples and tips for cutting certain shapes like the mouth but gave them lots of room for creative choices. 

For some reason they kept questioning me on what they could or couldn't do with this project. "Can I make it have elf ears?" "Can mine have a mustache?" "Can I do a different kind of hat?" "Can she have a booger?" My answer - "You are the artist. You make the decisions!" I use this answer quite a bit. It usually brings a smile to their face.

I'm always a bit cautious of doing this project. I don't want to those students who might not be able to do Halloween themed things because of religious beliefs to feel uncomfortable. If I know ahead of time there are students who might not be able to do witches I modify it to monsters or let chose what they might do using the same skills.

Like this project but too late for Halloween...you could a similar project before Christmas and do What If Picasso made Elves?



How do you handle projects that might be off limits to certain students because of religious beliefs?