All About Stenciling

I heard you can rent a overhead projector, but isn't that pricey? Is there a way I can find a stamp or stencil that large? The background schene is easy, It's just the pooh bear characters, I need help drawing.

you can get it printed out onto a massive piece of paper and let the children colour it in if ya like... probably cheaper to do the projecter

I don't think stencils that large are actually manufactured...My suggestion would be the overhead projector, so you can simply trace around the picture. That would probably be easier than trying to keep a giant stencil on the wall.

Yeah definitely just use an overhead projector. There are printable overhead projector sheets you can buy to print for it. If money is an issue, I once bought an overhead projector, used it once and then returned it. Of course, make sure you COULD return it. Also, if you know anyone who has access to an AV department at their school or college, perhaps you can ask them to check one out for you. Renting really, shouldn't be that expensive at all since some projectors run for under $200. Also another thing you can do is using a grid system on the wall that corresponds with the picture. First, make sure the proportion of the wall to the picture is right. So if you have a picture that is 8 x 10 in., your wall (or space on the wall) should be equal in proportion (say like 8 x 10 ft. or 4 ft. x 5 ft.). Draw your grid on the picture in inches and translate it on the wall in ft. or whichever proportion you use. Make sure you get this as exact as possible--use a level, ruler, chalk thread and tape. Once your grid system is set up, you can focus on getting each square filled in right with the details rather than on the whole picture at the same time. Depending on your medium, any trace of the grid should be invisible by the time your done (and it erases fairly easily). With this method, there's a lesser chance of having bad proportions and it's 20x easier. I've even had 2nd graders do this with success if you assign each kid a square.

First, keep in mind that using copyrighted characters like Winnie the Pooh for decorating a commercial establishment is HIGHLY illegal. If you get caught, not only can Disney's attornies force you to remove the images, they can sue you for a LOT of money. Also, purchasing a projecter for the sole purpose of using it once and returning it is also dishonest and unethical. But, I am not your conscience. You (or anyone else who does this) will have to live with yourselves. My suggestion is to find other images for your wall. As far as how to blow up a small image into a big one, I can offer one method mural artists use to enlarge their sketches into full sized outlines. Take the small image and draw grid lines, vertical and horizontal across the picture. If you don't want to spoil the picture, make a photcopy and draw the grid on that. Then draw a grid on the wall, with pencil, with the same number of lines as on the small picture, except the grid on the wall covers the area you want to pain. Then, pencil in each square of the grid the outlines of the corresponding grid from the small picture. You will find this much easier than attempting to copy the entire picture. Continue this with each square of the grid. When done, you should have a fairly good copy of the original picture. Now, paint in the colors and outlines as you wish.

I agree with the previous poster about copyright and legality etc. I would suggest drawing your own bear or any other creature. Then making an event out of naming your bear. You children will love it and it will be their own class bear. To learn to draw animals, go to the library. They have tons of books in the Juvenile section such as "how to draw...". It should not take you more than an evening to practice with the guidelines in the book to draw a bear or any other animal. Here is an option that I use to expand my drawing to fit large canvases. There is something called "The mini projector". Search for "projector, art, beginner". The search may give larger units but look for the beginner varieties for art purposes. It should cost less than $40. Draw your picture in a transparency and position it in front of the lighted unit. A larger image is displayed on the wall. My unit can do up to 10 times the size of the drawing.