Turkey Day

This was the week of the First Grader's concert. Many classes missed art, or it was shortened. I decided to do a one day art project this week to keep all of my classes on the same track for their regular art.

We drew turkeys together.

Students then colored them, adding patterns, lines and colors.

Finally, they were watercolored.  Just in time to decorate the house. I love how they turned out!!

Rainbow Polar Bear

We are learning about primary and secondary colors in this art project. We are also learning about how to put colors in the rainbow order.

The first week, students drew a polar bear and began coloring the clothing in with crayons using the rainbow order.

The second week was spent painting the polar bear white and watercoloring in the background in the rainbow order.

The final week, the polar bears were finished. The clothing was colored, the bear was outlined and glued onto a frame.

Some of the finished products!

Piet Mondrian Artwork

Kindergarteners are learning about Primary colors and what makes them so special. What better way to teach them than with a Piet Mondrian inspired artwork?

The first week, we read a book about colors called White Rabbit's Color Book. We then looked at examples of Piet Mondrian's art.

We began the art by gluing on two long strips of black and then added other black strips to create shapes. Small primary squares were added at the end for detail.

Today kindergarteners trimmed their edges on their art and added a black frame.

They finished these up today by watercoloring in primary colors into several white spaces. I think Piet Mondrian would approve!

Castle Landscape Kindergarten

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Kindergarteners began their castle landscape today. I taught them how to do "rotating paint" when painting their landscape. They had a great time traveling around the art room choosing different blues and greens to put in their background.

I then read them the book Lines that Wiggle. We spent the rest of the day practicing how to draw lines such as zig zag, bumpy, loopy castle tops, wavy etc... Some of the lines were easy for them and some were quite challenging!

The second week was spent drawing the castle, drawing and coloring shapes and lines. Finally, they painted the castle with glittery paint!

The following week we worked on gluing on a black frame. After the frame was glued on, castles were cut out. Some kids cut off flags and towers, but over all did a great job cutting and gluing the castles onto their landscape.

The last day the finishing touches were put into the castle landscape. Kindergarteners practiced cutting out circles on copy paper. Finally, they added three trees, two clouds and a sun.

Here are some of the finished products!!

Paul Klee House

Second graders are learning about the artist Paul Klee. We started discussing what Cubism is and what Abstract art can look like.

We watched a short video showcasing work by Paul Klee. Students then used a small piece of cardboard to "print" their house. I love how they are all turning out so different!

This week was spent painting in the Paul Klee houses. We talked about how Klee often chose a color scheme when painting his art. The students chose 4 or 5 colors for their color scheme and got to work. It was very detailed painting and the kids did great!

This was the final week of our Paul Klee houses. Students finished painting the house and the background.

They also worked on two sheets that complemented the art. The first sheet was called Two Stars and a Wish. For this sheet, students write out 2 sentences about what they liked about their art project. The last sentence was something they wish they'd done differently or better. This sheet is teaching them to think critically about their art.

The last sheet was a Paul Klee sheet to color and glue onto the back of their art.

The projects turned out so colorful!

Navajo rugs

Students started out watching a short video about how real Navajo rugs are made.

They glued down paper strips and added fringes  

The next week was spent adding patterns and drawing symbols. 

The third week was spent looking at Navajo children of today. Students then spent the remainder of the class painting in lines and shapes onto their rug.

We finished up the Navajo rugs this week. Our last steps were to draw in symbols we had been working on for a few weeks. The symbols were drawn on in a pattern. Some students chose to put yarn fringes on when they were finished and some chose not to.

They worked so hard on these and they turned out fabulous!