Warm & Cool

Warm and Cool collage/paintings by the kindergartners. Objectives of this lesson: Develop a solid understanding of the warm and cool color families (ability to create a work of art using only one family) ability to make connections between colors & our environment and ability to tear shapes of paper with control...we're still working on this fine motor skill :)

The Lion and The Rat

Inspired by another wonderful Brian Wildsmith story, The Lion and The Rat, kindergartners created lions for Family Arts Night at Swallow. 3rd and 4th grade students helped design and hang a jungle mural to display their work. I found a great children's book review blog, check it out here: http://theartofchildrenspicturebooks.blogspot.com/  and Brian Wildsmith's website: http://www.brianwildsmith.com/

Koi Fish Kites

Inspired by our theme this month "Art from Around the World," the Kindergartners created Koi Fish Kites. This was a 2-3 day lesson for most of my students.

Day 1- Looked and talked about Koi fish- basics: Their appearance (color, shape, body size), their environment, the meaning of "koi" and where we might have seen Koi fish before. Then, I did a demonstration of creating scales of the Koi fish with oil pastel, followed by watercolor.
** I stapled the flat sheets into tubes shapes between day one and day two.**
Day 2- I set up stations for the Kindergartners to move around the room and add tails (tissue paper, colored wax paper), GLITTER, scales/textures, and strings to their kites. I really enjoy witnessing  "Aha" moments when they are moving around the room, making decisions, collaborating and communicating with their peers.

I displayed the kites from the ceiling in my room...The older grades were quite impressed by the young artists' work.

Amate Bark Paintings

Bird Paintings inspired by Amate Bark paintings. I have always loved the bright pigments against the natural tones of the paper, and have always wanted to create/teach this lesson. When I began to look through all of the lessons/examples from the previous art teacher I found a good selection of amate bark paintings done in a variety of styles. These examples are from my first grade students.

Three day lesson...
Day 1- Introduction to project with visuals and sketching bird and plant designs
Day 2- crumple and unfold brown butcher paper squares (appox. 18 x 18) about five times, then iron.... yes first graders ironing- no accidents thankfully! Transfer sketch design onto "bark", trace over with thick sharpie or black tempera paint
Day 3- Paint bird patterns, ferns,  and border patterns with neon tempera paint and white/glow in the dark.

Soft Sculpture Fish

Painting with both hands?! We painted each side, stapled, stuffed with news paper and collaged on "fish textures"

A blowfish!

Inspired by Lois Ehlert's story Fish Eyes, the second graders have been busy creating gigantic fish sculptures. Focusing on Symmetrical designs, transferring sketched ideas into finished works of art, painting and collaging techniques. My room looks like a giant aquarium with the fish suspended from the ceiling. Again,  I thought this project was a success, however it has taken us many class periods already, and I still have a few students that need more time. So, before I do this project again I think it could use some refining- maybe line design/texture with ink or marker and possibly replicating a specific fish or sea creature... hmmm?! Suggestions?

Giraffes Eat Leaves!

 WOW, Giraffes eat leaves! Nearly every kindergartner had this pre-knowledge to share with us as we began our giraffe discussion. Day 1- we talked about giraffes and their environment, body structure and quirky characteristics, like the number of vertebrae in their neck, and the speed at which they can run. We looked at a small collection of giraffe images to gain a better understanding of their body structure, then embarked on our attempt to draw giraffes! We used brown tempera and cut up sponges to give the giraffes their unique coat or "finger print." Day 2- We watched giraffes in their environment through Nat. Geo. and talked about their environment. Then we gave our giraffe an environment with trees full of leaves to eat. The kindergartners each made up a story for the giraffe environment. Overall, a successful learning experience for them and a good starting point for me to build on next time!

Panda Puppets

I think I loved this project as much as the kindergartners did! This was a simple 1-1.5 day lesson introducing  pandas, and collages facial expressions. The project began with a simple information book on pandas. The text and images gave the students a brief introductory to their appearance, habitat, diet, location.. etc. As always, this was a great time to allow students to share brief tide bits of their knowledge-base, such as what pandas eat--- "bamboo, bamboo, THEY EAT BAMBOO MISS STEWART!" The puppet was a simple plate with construction paper pieces and googly eyes. I attached another 1/2 plate pocket on the back of the plate to turn it into a hand puppet. It was fun to see the pandas parading to the bus on the hands of the kindergartners that day after school :)

what a HoOt!

Collage Owls by the Kindergarteners inspired by the wonderful vintage children's book. "The Owl and the Woodpecker." Check it out here: Brian Wildsmith

Kindergarten Painted Turtles

The Kindergarten's have been busy created "painted turtles." This was a quick two day activity, day one: finger painting stations. I placed one container of each color on each of the 6 work tables in the room. I put one drop of paint on each triangle of the color wheel to guide the kindergartner's through the sequence of colors. Each table rotated together, carrying their painting throughout the room until they had finger painted with their "paint brush" a.k.a. pointer finger, all 6 colors of the color wheel. Day 2: They traced (some created their own), cut out, and attached the body parts. This was hilarious! I had to bite my tongue and try not ask "is this the head, arm or leg..?" They did a great job, and now they are on display in our LMC story area!