• Subscribe to Blog via Email

    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 4,533 other subscribers

Category Archives: second grade

Vassily Kandinsky and Abstract Art

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Vassily Kandinsky was one of the first pioneers of abstract art.   Abstract art is art that does not attempt to show things realistically, but uses lines, shapes, colors and textures to show emotions and meaning.   Kandinsky was from Russia and initially went to law school.  He was always fascinated by color and in his thirties, he decided to go to art school.   Kandinsky thought showing the inner beauty was most important.  He believed that color could express … Read more… →

Paul Klee Castle Collage

By | | , , , , , , ,
5 Comments

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… →

Spirals, Flowers and Patterns: Learning about Hundertwasser

By | | , , , , ,
1 Comment

“A good picture is when the picture is full of magic, when you can feel the happiness in it, when it makes you laugh or cry, or when it makes something happen. It should be like a flower or a tree. It should be like Nature. It should be that we miss it when it isn’t there.” Hundertwasser Friedensreich Hundertwasser believed that nature and beauty was the key to happiness. He was born Fritz Stowasser but created his “artist name” … Read more… →

Snowman Puppets

By | | ,
Leave a comment

Ah, winter break!  It is the perfect time to catch up on blog posts.  We did a few winter themed projects before the break.  Some of my students made adorable snowman puppets. We used white poster board to cut out a body and then glued or taped a jumbo craft stick to the back. We cut out hats, arms, clothing and accessories for our snowmen.  Some of the materials used were felt, foam shapes, buttons, construction paper, washi tape and … Read more… →

Dr. Seuss Art Project for Kids: 2nd Grade

By | | , ,
1 Comment

I love Dr. Seuss’ art.  Did you know in addition to writing books he created over 10,000 works of art.  Amazing!  The book The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss is a must-have for art teachers who love Seuss. My students, of course, also love Dr. Seuss and read many of his books in their language arts class. We watched a YouTube video about the Secret Art of Dr. Seuss and one with a slideshow of his artwork.  The second slideshow … Read more… →

Tape and Paint Pictures

By | | ,
4 Comments
Tape and Paint Pictures

I came up with this lesson after browsing the internet looking for contemporary artists to study.  I came across Fiona Curran’s‘s beautiful paintings with straight lines and geometric shapes.  Here are some of her artworks: At the end of the year, my students were losing focus and were ready for summer to begin!  I wanted a fun lesson that would involve experimentation and play.  I love using colored and patterned tape so I showed the second grade students how you … Read more… →

Paper Hats with 2nd Graders

By | | ,
2 Comments
Making Paper Hats with 2nd graders

This is just a quick post to share with you a simple and fun project for the end of the year.. paper hats!  The kids started with a long strip of construction paper, drew designs on their hats with construction paper crayons, punched out shapes and added fun paper extensions from the scrap box.  The strip was placed around their head and stapled by me. We got more use out of our paper sculpture techniques poster (below).  Easy.  Fun.  Practice … Read more… →