I was inspired by the polar bears at We Heart Art so I taught a painting project with my 2nd graders. The students could choose to paint either a polar bear or snowman with white paint. Hats, scarves, snow and facial features were drawn on with oil pastels or cut from the scrap box.
I think Alaskan native masks are so beautiful. Our 2nd graders learn about Alaska in their social studies class and to connect with this unit, they explore the meanings and characteristics of Alaskan native art. Here is an example of a mask from Alaska: Our masks are colorful and each child felt free to express their own ideas and to create their own meanings for their mask. We watched an excellent Alaskan art video that I highly recommend. It … Read more…
Two of my classes made pictures frames like these: They turned out really cute and I did not take pictures until after the kids glued their pictures in, so I did not want to post any of the frames with their pictures in it. This year, I did not do too many holiday art projects, but here is a round-up of some that I have done in the past. Sock Snowmen Snowflakes with Glitter Snowglobe Pictures Picture Frame with Tooling … Read more…
Thanks for your kind comments about my fingers! They are actually healing much faster than I expected. As you might know, I am a lover of all things mixed media! I also enjoy occasionally teaching an after school art workshop for my students (I’d love to do more, but since my daughter goes to daycare it’s a bit tricky.) I thought painted canvases would be a great gift for kids to give someone in their family, so I decided to … Read more…
Are you wondering what to get a child in your family for the holidays? As an art teacher, I see what the kids really like and what they gravitate towards to when they are given free time in art. These are some popular items for kids that I have personally used and recommend. Most of these can be found at your local Target or Michaels (or other craft/art store). Don’t forget to print off a coupon online if you are … Read more…
These collograph prints by 2nd graders were made by gluing cut out foam letters and shapes to a piece of cardboard. The kids drew and cut out their own foam letters and shapes, but I also had a selection of other foam pieces to add. We tied this project to the art of Jasper Johns. Before rolling and printing the plates, the kids glued shapes of colored paper on their background, so there would be some color showing through. Then, … Read more…
The 2nd graders studied Dr. Suess books in their classroom. In art class, I showed them the art of Dr. Suess. Did you know he made paintings and sculptures? I showed them this book: The Secret Art of Dr. Suess.. a must-have for art teachers teaching about Dr. Suess! I love his artwork. Fantastic, whimsical, charming! There are a few pictures in there better left for adults, so photocopy the pages you want the kids to see and pass them … Read more…
“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” Andy Warhol The 2nd graders learned about Andy Warhol. We read Getting to Know Andy Warhol, by Mike Venezia and we viewed a short video about the artist. The students drew themselves while looking in a mirror. Then, I photocopied each drawing so the students had multiple … Read more…
Our last summer art workshop was a fun one! We decoupaged tissue paper on to glass vases. The cylindrical ones could be candle holders. We tore and cut tissue paper and adhered them to the glasses with Matte Medium. I hate the smell of mod-podge, so I rarely use it. I get headaches from it, does anyone else? I figure if I get headaches from it, it probably is not good for the kids to inhale. This Blick Matte Medium … Read more…
I am teaching 3 summer art sessions. Each session is two hours long with one or two art projects. For this session, I had 2 students going into 4/5th grade, 2 students who just finished kindergarten, and one student going into kindergarten. It was a small class, which was perfect for this project, since the pictures were LARGE. To start, we traced our bodies on large butcher paper. Then, we outlined them with markers and used collage materials (magazine images, … Read more…
This is a picture-heavy post!! The 2nd graders reminded me that we had not done any clay this year yet! How could that be? So I decided to try this project that I come up with based on a clay flower in a pot that my sister-in-law has. I’m not sure where she got the flower but I think it was picked up at an art fair or something… We used regular firing clay, acrylic paints, beads, and a flower … Read more…
We made Treasure Boxes at an after school art class that I taught this month. The students were in grades K-6 (about 12 kids). I picked up cigar boxes from a local shop and the kids were able to decorate them with the plethora of supplies I had. We used wall paper scraps, wrapping paper, magazines, stickers, scrapbook papers…. colored tape… Each kid could decorate the box however they wanted. I showed them pictures of Joseph Cornell‘s mysterious … Read more…
The second graders drew a bug of their choice on white paper. I had photos for reference and showed them how to use the pencil to create shading and how to blend it with a blending stub. (I call them “smudgy sticks”). Later, they cut out their bug and glued it to another background page. The students looked at this image by Louise Bourgeois and answered some discussion questions about the artwork. Then, they filled out a sheet which prompted … Read more…
The 2nd graders have been learning about the characteristics and functions of Alaskan masks as well as the cultural traditions of Native Alaskans. They made a 3-D mask using typical characteristics— animal or human features, fur, feathers, appendages, hoops around the mask.
2nd grade Collographs:We read about the art of Jasper Johns. He used everyday, ordinary images and created art so people would view them in a new way. We made a collograph printing plate using letters and numbers cut from foam, alphabet letters, cardboard and foam shapes. Then we printed them on white paper. For some of these, we glued colorful shapes on the paper before we printed.
