I was out for a couple days with a sub earlier this year (around Valentine’s Day) and I found this easy dot picture idea. Since it was around Valentine’s Day, I left in my plans that kids could make hearts for their design or if they wanted to draw a different design that was fine too. The steps are simple and easy, which is great for a substitute lesson. I usually don’t leave paint for sub lessons, but I figured … Read more…
Our school librarian introduced this book to me and I think it is such a sweet story. This book is called Emily’s Blue Period by Cathleen Daly. The illustrations are lovely. This is a story about Emily, whose parents are divorcing and now she has two homes. She goes through her own “blue period” of sadness. Emily was learning about Pablo Picasso, his Blue Period and his collages in her art class. Her art teacher asks the class to … Read more…
My students are really interested in science and I always love when I can connect an art lesson to things they talk about in their science classes. This unit came about because on a day when I was absent last month, one of our Science teachers subbed for my classes (we have quite a few part-time teachers at our school and teachers will often fill in for each other when there are absences.) The students went to the Science room … Read more…
Materials you will need: Compass Pencil White paper Things to color with like markers, crayons, colored pencils Sharpies (optional) Crayola Twistable Neon Crayons (optional) Goals: understand the meanings and purposes of mandalas in other cultures learn to use a compass use radial symmetry in artwork develop fine motor skills and craftsmanship personal expression Steps: 1. Start by showing and discussing mandalas around the world. There is a slideshow linked above or create your own. 2. Demonstrate how to use a … Read more…
Did that get your attention? How about this? The Science teachers at my school often have the kids create drawings about what they are studying. One of them asked if I wanted to coordinate and have my third graders do more observational drawing. I borrowed these fun scientific specimens and some plants from the school greenhouse for my students to draw. If you want to buy some of your own specimens, they are not cheap, but once you have them … Read more…
My students made self portraits with construction paper, tissue paper and paint. This project is always a hit with the kids and parents. I love it because it involves lots of good art concepts such as color mixing with paints, shades and tints, proportion, facial details and collage techniques. We start by creating the background with tissue paper and paint. The kids are encouraged to experiment with color mixing. I demonstrate how to make colors lighter by adding white and … Read more…
I came across this beautiful technique at the Happy Hooligans blog. She practiced letter writing with glue, salt and paint. I thought this technique would be a fun experiment for my third graders and make beautiful fall leaf paintings. Here’s how this works. First, we used real fall leaves for inspiration while drawing. We drew leaves with pencil on watercolor paper. Then, we used regular Elmer’s white glue to outline the leaves. While the glue was still wet, we poured … Read more…
