We had our first week of school! Beth Carter posted wonderful pictures of her students drawings on the first day with the title “I had art today!” I borrowed the concept and made sheets for my kindergartners and first graders to take home on their first day of art class. Here is the PDF download of “I Had Art Today!” I had my students draw a picture of themselves as an artist or a picture of themselves in class with … Read more…
Our Kindergarten teachers approached me with a request for an art project for the back cover of their memory books. The kids have filled out pages in their memory books all year and they wanted a colorful back cover. I found a fun and easy way to make fingerprint art on the Frogs Snails and Puppy Dog Tails blog. Then, we used a great end of year poem by Helen H. Moore. We started by dripping water in pans of … Read more…
Wow, I’ve been so busy. Aren’t we all though, right? But really, this is one of the most busy times of year. Parent-teacher conferences this week and March is when the yearbook needs to be finished up. I also put up an art show at the public library (which I will post about later) and we have been working like crazy on our mural in the hallway! The mural is almost done and I am just waiting until everything has … Read more…
Did you Celebrate Oops!? My kindergarten and first graders started this open-ended project by reading the book Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg. We were inspired by the page in the book that said, “A smudge and a smear can make magic appear.” Each student received a piece of paper with a smear of paint on it. They were challenged to turn that piece of paper into a “beautiful oops” and create a wonderful work of art incorporating the smear. What … Read more…
The Kindergartners made these lovely mixed media heart pictures. They started by stamping the background paper with gadgets, such as old thread spools, bottle caps, heart sponges, cookie cutters and more. During the second class period, they traced a heart onto a piece of heavy duty tinfoil and colored designs with Sharpie markers. They also glued on tissue paper squares and glitter. After they finished their tinfoil hearts, I covered them in clear contact paper. During the third class period, … Read more…
Lines are an excellent starting point for lessons with Kindergarteners. To begin this line unit, we read the book Lines That Wiggle. The students used colored tape to make straight lines across their paper. We talked about horizontal, vertical, diagonal and ziz-zag lines. During the next class period, the students used tempera cakes to paint a variety of lines: wavy, loopy, dotted, dashed, squiggly, spiral, jagged and more. Aren’t these lovely and expressive? After the painting project, we moved … Read more…
Aren’t we always looking for ways to relate to other subjects? This project is perfect to connect with your music program at school. Materials you will need: plastic Easter eggs (one per child) plastic spoons (2 per child) bean, rice or plastic beads for the inside to create the noise masking tape Elmer’s Art Paste bowl, water, whisk (to mix the paper mache paste) paper towels paint decorative washi tape Goals: make connections between music and art learn about maracas … Read more…
Henri Matisse is one of my favorite artists. I love his bold colors and beautiful shapes. While teaching about patterns, painting, collage and shapes, I recently introduced his artwork to my kindergarteners and 1st graders. First, we learned about his artwork through this Henri Matisse presentation. We also read the book called Oooh! Matisse, which is a fun, colorful book (but not very informative about his artwork.) The book is good for discussing and thinking about the shapes in his … Read more…
I wanted my Kindergarten classes to practice rolling coils with clay before we started on our actual clay project. I had written out all of their names on long pieces of paper at the beginning of the year, but decided to change the project I had planned. I gave each child a paper with their name written on it. They practiced rolling clay coils with their fingers and then bent the coils to fit on the letters. This was a … Read more…
Materials you will need: images of Piet Mondrian’s artwork construction paper precut black strips glue stick red, yellow and blue crayons (or markers) scissors Goals: identify, describe and analyze the artwork of Piet Mondrian use balance and space to create an interesting composition develop fine motor skills by using glue sticks and coloring solidly identify the primary colors Steps: 1. Show and discuss the artworks of Piet Mondrian. Ask the students to describe the artworks and tell about his style … Read more…
I hope you are enjoying your first few weeks back to school! Here is a Reach for the Stars bulletin board my students made as their first art projects. The tape letters were made by 1st graders. I don’t know how people use painter’s tape for this technique, because it just caused my paper to rip. I discovered the Post-it Label Roll which worked great to block out the letters. The kids painted over the label tape with a crayon … Read more…
I’m still catching up on sharing projects from last year! This is an easy lesson to teach kindergarteners about cool colors vs. warm colors. First, show the kids how to trace their hands, while leaving space in between for a heart. Then, demonstrate how to draw a heart and have the kids draw one too. Ask the kids if they know what are the cool colors and then what are the warm colors. Color the hands with cool colors: blues, … Read more…
At the beginning of the year when Kindergartners are learning how to write their letters I like to read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and teach an art lesson using the alphabet. Most of the kids have already read this book, but it is a quick read and has a great rhythm. The kids do love the book. If you want to get a laugh though, read the one-star reviews on Amazon, lol. Start by painting a paper with … Read more…
Beautiful spring butterflies are a great way to end the school year. Paint dotters give colorful results without a ton of mess. Kindergartners drew these with pencil first. I read a suggestion from Patty Palmer on the art teacher Facebook group to use tracers for the top set of the wings to get the size proportional and then have the kids draw the bottom of the wings on their own. Then they used paint dotters to create symmetrical designs on … Read more…
