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Tag Archives: first grade

Paul Klee Castle Collage

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Colorful abstract collage of a whimsical cityscape with geometric buildings, clouds, and a castle against a white background.

Paul Klee was an important painter in the history of modern art.  I have always been drawn to his colorful, abstract pictures.  Children can relate to the simple geometric shapes and bold colors.  His art has been related to Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism. Swiss artist Paul Klee painted the Castle and Sun with simplified shapes, but viewers can easily see the way the shapes form a castle or city-like scene.  For this lesson, we are going to paint colorful swatches … Read more… →

Flower Paintings by First Grade: Learn about Van Gogh and Hundertwasser

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First-grade children's artwork featuring abstract flower paintings with petals in various designs and bright colors on a blue background.

I’m proud of this lesson and how colorful and unique each of these pictures turned out!  I like to introduce a bit of art history to the younger kids, but I didn’t want the kids to copy a famous painting. Artistic Behaviors: Artists develop their own style. Artists create art that honors someone or something. Skills & Concepts: Discuss the differences and similarities between two artworks of a similar theme. Develop hand/eye coordination through painting and collage. Learn various techniques … Read more… →

Mixed Media Snowmen Art Project for Kids (1st Grade)

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Two snowmen with scarves and hats stand in a colorful, whimsical winter scene with stars and snowflakes.

Are you looking for a fun new way to make snowmen with your kids?  I got the idea to use makeup remover pads  from Happy Hooligans. I did this project with 1st graders. Start by mixing shades of blue paint with white and other cool colors.  Explain to kids that when you mix white with a color, it makes a lighter tint of that color.  Paint a background for your snowmen.  Let it dry. Next, set out makeup remover pads, … Read more… →

First Day of Kindergarten & 1st Grade Art

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Child's drawing of a person on a giraffe by a tree and pond, with text: "I had art today! My art days are Tuesday & Thursday. 1st Grade Art is fun!

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… →

Bird Pictures with First Graders & Studying Audubon

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First graders create bird paintings after learning about Audubon.

I am so proud of how well my first graders drew these beautiful birds and I’m excited to share them with you. We started by reading the beautiful book The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon.  This book is a wonderful connection to science as Audubon was a fascinating man who studied the migration of birds and painted them.  Your budding scientists will love this story. The students looked at reference photos of birds from books.  … Read more… →

Making an Assemblage & Learning about Louise Nevelson

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Learning about Louise Nevelson and making an assemblage with children

  I have seen variations of this project many times but have never tried it with my students.  I am pleased with how our assemblages turned out!  This was a great opportunity to clean out the junk in the classroom and teach about using found objects. My Primaries (or first grade) learned a little about American sculptor Louise Nevelson.  There is a short clip on YouTube that explains about her artwork. I put a call out to families to donate … Read more… →

Printing with Cardboard Strips: First Grade

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Easy Printmaking: Stamping with Cardboard Strips

My first graders created these unique and expressive pictures by stamping with pieces of cardboard. Here’s how you can print with cardboard.  First, cut pieces of cardboard into strips small enough for young kids to easily hold.  Pour a bit of black paint on to newspaper.  Dip the edge of the strip into the paint and stamp on your paper.  The black lines of the faces were all made by stamping with cardboard.  After the paint has dried, color the … Read more… →

Beautiful Oops Painting Project

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Beautiful Oops colorful abstract painting with flowers, hearts, swirls, and various shapes in purple, blue, yellow, and pink.

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… →

Day of the Dead | Symmetrical Paper Skulls | 1st Grade

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Day of the Dead | Symmetrical Paper Skulls | 1st Grade

October 31 to November 2 is the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead.  My first grade students learned about the celebration a bit in their Spanish class and then in art class, we read a story about the holiday and drew these symmetrical skull pictures.  The book we read was Day of the Dead, by Tony Johnston.  It’s a nice story with great pictures.  My only complaint is that the book is very very small, so the kids have to … Read more… →

All About Me Crayon

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All About Me Crayon

One of the first projects my first graders made were these “All About Me Crayons”. I had seen and taught this lesson probably 10 years ago and decided to revisit it.  I can not remember exactly where I saw this idea, but as many lessons are, we get ideas and see projects all over the place.  I try to credit when I can, but some of these I have been doing so long!    We started the day by reading … Read more… →

Map of My Heart: 1st Graders

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Map of My Heart: 1st Graders

The 1st graders made maps of their hearts!  This is a charming project that gives you a window into the lives of your students. First, they drew a large heart and then inside the heart they included things or people that were important in their lives.   They used permanent markers to draw and then watercolor paints to color in the heart. I got this idea from the book “Playful Learning” which would be a great book for a classroom teacher.  … Read more… →

Have You Ever Drawn Flowers with Watercolor Pencils?

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Have You Ever Drawn Flowers with Watercolor Pencils?

The week after winter break was up in the air.  Due to construction, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to use our art room and we didn’t know if we would have easy access to supplies.  I planned for most of my classes to complete observational drawings during that week period, since they all could use the same supplies and learning to observe the edges and shapes of objects is great training for the eye. It … Read more… →

15 Favorite Posts from 2013

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  Another year is rapidly coming to a close, so I thought I would spend some time reviewing my favorite projects and blog posts from this year.  Here are my favorite posts, in no particular order! 15.  How to Paint Gorgeous Clouds with Watercolor 14.  Clay Castles 13.  Postage Stamp Art Project 12.  Heart Photography Project with 3rd Grade 11.  25 Amazing Books for Teaching About Art 10.  Editorial cartoons are a unit I teach every year.  We even were … Read more… →

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.