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Category Archives: kindergarten

Paper mache Rattles- Kindergarten

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Colorful handmade rattle with red and blue feathers, decorated with drawings and symbols on an orange paper mache circle.

The kindergartners made paper mache rattles after learning about Native American rattles.  We viewed a Powerpoint about the rattles used in Native American ceremonies.  The students made their own rattle which could be used for music and dancing.  We were not trying to copy the rattles, but use them for inspiration.  Here are the steps:1.  First, tape a paint stick to the inside of a paper plate. 2.  Put beans on the plate. 3.  Tape another plate on top.   … Read more… →

Native American– Kindergarten

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A child's colorful drawing featuring stick figures, a crown, a moon, a dome, and various abstract shapes inspired by Native American art.

We are starting to make rattles like the Native American rattles.  Here are the steps so far:  Tape a wooden paint stirrer to a small paper plate. Place beans, rice, dry noodles on the plate. Put another paper plate on top and tape shut!   Our next step will be to add paper mache on top and paint symbols on the rattle.  We will also add feathers and yarn to the handle. I divided the kindergartners in 2 groups so that … Read more… →

Textured Teddy Bears– Kindergarten

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Kindergarten child's drawing of two textured teddy bears, one large with a smaller bear in its belly and a smaller bear next to it; colorful border.

The focus on this project was learning about texture.  The children used texture plates to create texture rubbings on the fur.  On the inside of the teddy bear’s stomach, they drew a creative design.  Then, they learned about patterns and read the book Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes.   The border was decorated with patterns.  Yeah, they look like Care Bears, don’t they?   Sooooooo cute!

Piet Mondrian– Kindergarten

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Abstract artwork with colorful crayon scribbles and black paper cutouts, creating a geometric and fragmented design.

What are the Primary Colors?  Who was Piet Mondrian? The Nest will be looking at artwork by the artist named Piet Mondrian.  Some of his artwork was characterized by use of a very simple color scheme (usually the primary colors and black and white). His art had strong, straight lines and repeated use of squares and rectangles.  The students will be able to name the primary colors and recognize Mondrian’s artwork.  They created their own artwork using the primary colors … Read more… →

Halloween Silhouettes– Kindergarten

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Abstract drawing of a house and mice in black against a yellow, orange, and red background, reminiscent of Halloween silhouettes.

This project is fun for any grade, but especially the kindergartners because it is so cute to see what they come up with.  We painted broad strokes of WARM COLORS in the background with watercolor paints.  Then, using black and white pieces of paper, we cut out spooky shapes– haunted houses, bats, ghosts, etc.  We used a black marker to draw extra details.

The Dot

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The Dot features a colorful abstract composition with various shapes and sizes of circles and polygons in bright hues on a light background.

Grade K learned about the most very basic marks in art… DOTS and CIRCLES.  The class read the book The Dot, by Peter Reynolds. They also looked at a slide show of artwork that uses dots.  These are some examples: Aboriginal Art made in Australia Georges Seurat and his Pointillist technique   The Kindergartners made a picture using dots and circles as design elements.  They focused on drawing circles, cutting and gluing circles and overlapping.  The students got their first … Read more… →

Bubble Prints!

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Colorful abstract painting with splashes and circles in blue, green, pink, and yellow on a white background. Incorporating elements of Bubble Prints gives it a unique touch.

After experimenting with several ways of doing bubble prints, I think I found a way that works well.  I poured some kids bubbles into small containers.  Then, I mixed a few drops of food coloring into the containers.  The bubbles were cheapo and weren’t really bubbly, so I added some dish soap as well.  Then, I blew bubbles just as you normally would blow bubbles and let them land on the paper.  When they popped, they left these splatters and … Read more… →

Tape and Sticker Pictures

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A collage flower made from various colored and patterned paper strips, accented with vibrant stickers, and "Flower by Colleen" written at the bottom.

box of stickers This was a super fun art project that I forgot to blog about earlier.  We did this at the summer art class I taught at my school.  Tape and sticker pictures.  I wrote about tape and sticker pictures earlier which I love to do with my 20 month old daughter.  The above picture is a box of stickers I made.  I took some sticky address labels, and color photocopied some patterned paper onto the sticky labels.  Then, … Read more… →

Puppets!

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Yellow cat puppet with button eyes, black felt whiskers and nose, and red felt ears. This puppet is made from soft fabric.

Puppets were made during my summer art class!  For this project, I drew a puppet template, which the kids traced and cut out from felt.  They cut out 2 pieces, a front and back.  Then, I hot glued them together.  The kids then cut out other pieces of felt and added googly eyes to decorate their puppet.  They attached these pieces with Elmer’s glue.  We added a large stick inside also to hold the puppet up.  We made these really … Read more… →

Superheroes on Canvas

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Canvas painting of a child's drawing of a person in bright colors, set against a red background with scattered dark spots.

In my summer art class, we painted superhero canvases.  The kids decided what superhero they would like to be and drew these on dry wax paper with markers and colored pencils.  Then I used gel medium (on the backs of the paper) to adhere their images to the canvas board.  Then, they used paints to paint a background.  I love them!!  There is a link to the dry wax paper at the bottom of this post.  The ages of my … Read more… →

Art Camp 1st Day

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Close-up of a metal latch attached to a white, grid-patterned surface with red scribbles on the left side.

I am teaching 2 days of art camp in the afternoons this week.  On Monday, one of the projects we made were sun tiles.  I picked up some glossy ceramic tiles from the hardware store.  They looked at a few pictures of Mexican clay suns and they sketched their sun idea on a piece of paper.  Then, using pencil and sharpie markers, they drew their sun on the tile.  On the back of the tile I superglued a picture hanger.  … Read more… →

Kindergarten Felt Collage

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Colorful felt fabric collage depicting various animals like rabbits, cats, and birds on a green and tan background with a blue stream.

This was a 2 day project.  We decided as a class what our theme would be for the banner.  We chose the jungle.  Next, we brainstormed types of animals in the jungle.  Each kid signed up for one animal to make.  We cut these out of felt.  Next, I hot glued them on to a piece of burlap and green felt.  The kids also raided the fabric scrap box for extra details. 

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