Weaving and paper rolling

This was a really easy way for the Kindergarten and 1st grade to do a weaving project. The suggestion to cut "needles" from thing strips of milk carton with a slit cut in then was stellar. It made it easy to thread and all the kids learned to do it as we did our rows. The paper plates were sturdy enough for almost all the students to use. A couple had minor issues that were easily fixed. Fun for all and a chance to use another type of art supply.




the 4-5th grade students got to construct frames for an art project by rolling straws from newspaper/magazine color pages then mounting them onto the edges of a card. They had to roll at least 10 then use them in a design of their own choosing.

1st grade sculpt presidents

Trying to find unique things to do with Clay can be a challenge. I think this one is a winner. The students were all given a ball of plain white salt play and encourage to sculpt faces pinching ears noses and mouths, and eyes. They then put the head on a total paper tube and dressed the presidents accordingly with blue or brown costumes. They even added hats appropriate to the president. Most of the students accented the eyes and the mouths with markers.

A trip to the zoo

 The Arabic teacher for the 1st grade asked me to help the students create a trip to the zoo. I formed most of the animals from TP tubes then the students painted them and added all of the details using yarn and feathers.

In the center section you can see where the paths between each area are as the whole layout for the whole project. Some of the things turned out a little strange like the green horses. Others like the peacocks were little wilder in color than we expected. It is the kid's art and important that they do the projects without a lot of rules.

It is a great way to integrate what they are learning in any subject and make them remember better.

Paper sculpture projects let students learn new skills

Combining paper and sculpture is a favorite of mine and some of the projects are ones that I have done before so know what will generally work but there are always surprises.

 I assume that kindergartners know what a tree looks like but judging from the pictures they made, the view from their height may influence their ideas. We used long paper strips from the shredder, colored paper shred, and colored paper punch to let them create a fall tree. I had an example and even drew one on the board but they do their own thing. Every tree has a trunk and branches but wow what a variety!

The 1st and 2nd graders did twisted paper bag trees. This one takes some measuring skill, cutting practice and mastering twisting 2 paper strands together before they get to the "fun" part of putting the leaves on the trees. The 1st grade ones are on display in the school lobby.






 The 2nd grade got really excited to find white tissue in the bag I brought and created many trees with snow on their fall leaves. 

The 3rd grade 3-D fish did not get photographed and made a rapid trip home. 

I tried out a challenging project on the 4th-5th class to replicate a sculpture of the type by Louise Nevelson, noted 20th century artist who used found objects in her sculptures. They had to measure the sides and draw lines to create their own boxes. This seems to create no small amount of confusion on what is 1/2" on the ruler. Everyone got a box done then created an item to fit inside the box that was personal for them. I showed my bicycle example and her found examples. After each student completed his 2" piece they were all mounted on a large piece of tag board and the resulting sculpture is on display in the school lobby. 
  

Doing the basics in September

September is a good time to hit some of the basics and see how well and comfortably the students draw. I also get to assess how well they work with basic supplies like glue and scissors at all grade levels.  Most of the grades did a name based project and  projects using types of lines to create designs. The 3rd grade spirals were a lot of fun and quite popular.  The  kindergarten names went well with the paper plate faces and hand prints from the week before. Lots of the artwork made it onto the walls in the hall or the classrooms. 

We also did projects identifying textures and shaping them which is very popular. students brought items from home to add to my offerings to have a "touch table" then used the items to create the designs. The picture at left is from the 2nd grade class.






The 4-5 grade did an interpretive mixed media picture using yarns, tissue and drawing based on the story of Moby Dick. Great depictions of whales with its blow hole and other detail of a wily whale that had survived many hunts. One of the students added the boat and little speech bubbles. 

Our lines and curves drawing day turned out so much better than the examples I brought. 2nd grade did scarecrow complete with crows and  the 3rd grade is abstract blocks. 




This year our 6-8th grade students are all participating in art instead of signing up for an optional group after school  I had them draw the Spanish buildings then paint them in watercolors. Watercolors are a bit of a challenge to get just the right amount of wet into everything but by the end they did a great job and some went on to do a 2nd picture. 

Winter scenes in pastels and crayons

The kindergarten and 1st grade have been working on their drawing skills in addition to getting to use pastels in creating these winter scenes. The 1st  grade class was told to draw a box for a window and the draw the winter scene outside the winter. I did one on the board with them suggesting what might be outside the window. They were to draw in crayon then use pastel to paint the picture blending with their fingers and a wet q-tip. The results were wonderful. Of course a trip to the handwash location was in order. The kindergarteners got to draw another snowman with cuing on what might he have: hat, arms, mittens, etc. They then got to add lots of color. Pretty good job on including details and using the whole paper.

Pastel chalk drawings challenge K-1

Hands around the world seemed a good way to expose the 1st grade to chalk pastels and give them a bit more complicated project that required group sharing and coordination. I drew the circle in the middle of the page and the Americas onto it. The students had to trace around both of their hands ( or help each other get 2 hands on the page) around the globe. They then were to use colors of different skins on the hands and color the world blue, green and brown. Some got a little tempted but the colors available and the hands must be wearing gloves but they had an interesting time working together. I planned to work on a bit of shading but the enthusiasm in this group runs high and the parent volunteers are few. After they were done I sealed it with cheap hair spray.

The kindergarten class has been studying the seasons so a chalk pastel snow picture seemed to fit well with their lessons. They are also working on more realistic bodies for people with appropriate clothing and such. We started with blue paper to make sure our snow showed up then reviewed the person that would be in the snow scene then added a snowman. They really were excited to have the richer colors to use. We worked a bit on preventing smudging as they worked. I shot only  a few as they were curling from the spray fixative.  

Islamic art: Painting Eid Mubarak signs, Kaabas

We decided this year to spend November focusing on Islamic art with the kids. The first week we made folded Kaabas in the 1st & 2nd grades and a flat picture in Kindergarten. The students had the opportunity to talk about this symbol while making it. We used black poster board which did not glue as well as I had hoped, necessitating taping. We also used gold curling ribbon which needed a bit of tape but the results were quite nice.
Our second project was to paint a sign in Arabic saying Eid Mubarak. It also gave them a chance to use the metalic pastel tempera paints. Although we used a computer template for the phrase, all the classes were encouraged to decorate the remainder of the page. Some added their names, various symbols, and a few even painted a mosque or kabba on their page. The kids had a fun project to top off their Eid parties and managed to get a little skill work in too painting inside lines.

Painting fruits and vegetable in vivid color

These paintings gave us a great way to talk about colors and use the primary and secondary colors while tying to some of the 1st grade lessons. We discussed making the secondary colors then had to paint a red fruit, an orange one, etc. They did an great job on them too once they thought about what could be which color. I did not get any purple carrots or other odd things this time.

Using paper to create trees and other plants

The 2nd grade got to make fall trees from brown paper bags and tissue paper and what great trees they turned out to be! They had to follow rather complex instructions and get their tree branches in balance but it worked out well. We tried this with younger groups before and it was very difficult for them. It is great when the kids feel accomplished at the end of their projects.










The 1st grade was studying plants so we used paper strips, tissue paper and a bit of fuzzy yarn to create a flowering plant complete with seed pods and seeds (fennel) worked great and were visible. We practiced twisting the paper to make a "squashy blossom" and a few buds. Interestingly, critters also appeared in the form of bees, caterpillars and what seems to be ants. Never know where paper will lead a creative mind.






The kindergarden group got to draw a tree then fill it in with paper strips and tissue paper leaves. Of course giving them colored paper punch got lots more color into our trees. We have been working on cutting and gluing skills this month with most of the projects while trying to make the skills interesting to practice. Not sure what fall tree has pink leaves but she was very precise in the design with a dot in the center of each tissue piece.

Texas Longhorns stampede 1st grade

We started with a book about the Chisholm trail then talked about longhorns we had seen before launching into creating our own from paper bags. First we stuffed torn newspaper into the bags to give them some shape and scrunched the end into a nose finishing with a staple. We added ears and faces then made the "long horns" out of a chenille stem and taped it onto the top of the bag. A few of the students added mouths and other details that they felt the longhorn needed to have. We ran out of time before the bags got tails. Interesting way to focus on the history of Texas.

Wildflowers bloom in 1st grade

 
 This was a popular project everywhere this week. With wildflowers just popping up on the hillsides, we made our own blooming display.
This was a group project where each table created a page for the wall. I drew the flowers and lettered the names so the class could paint. And paint they did! 




They did multi-colored lettering for the names then got into the flower painting. When we completed the flowers they added bees, birds, butterflies and caterpillars. This is always an enjoyable painting project where everyone puts their own touch on the flowers.

1st grade Lady Liberty monuments

This has proven to be a popular project this year. The kindergarten made them a month ago and the 1st grade did them today. We had more time to talk about the Statue of Liberty, her history, and information about her. 


The project is simple with tp tubes, egg carton sections, straws, tissue paper and green paper crown. This group was much more concerned about being sure she had a face--even hair in some cases.

Kindergarten masks, 1st Grade Lincoln hats

I brought an Aztec mask I did last summer to school and told the story about how a mask lets you become another character and pretend to be something we are not. We had fun with it and made our own masks from paper plates (pre-cut eyes and nose) and different shapes of construction paper. Some were very involved, some were minimalist. 


Each had a story but once someone said he was a vampire the boys especially were on a roll. Many then had a vampire mask. Blessedly they were without teeth and blood! It was a fun and easy project and they really got into the pretend part as soon as the mask was on. 

The first grade has been studying Abraham Lincoln so we did a bit of painting and a bit of construction to make the top hat like Lincoln wore. I found a website with directions to make the hat but decided to alter it a bit. We painted a paper plate black and cut a hole just smaller than the roll of paper for the top part of the hat. We did some cutting and gluing to assemble the hat then completed the painting of the other part of the brim. They could not wait to put them on their heads and be Lincoln look alikes! 

Dinosaur prints and fossils

Another great clay project. I made the dinosaur feet in advance using femo clay and baked them then brought the rest of the items in the fossil box for the 1st grade class to use. We got to talk about dinosaurs and that they all seemed to have 3 toes, how fossils were made and what might be in fossils along with dinosaur tracks.

Textures in art for Kindergarten & 1st

January the kindergarten is moving into textures in art. This project fits into the study theme of day and night and earth. We started with a review of textures present in the classroom and a book, "Moon to Sun" by Sheila Sampton,  then developed the picture focusing on which textures were in the picture. We used textured metallic tissue, sand paper, felt, cardboard, a perforated doily, cotton ball, sequin stars for examples of rough, smooth, bumpy, fluffy, and soft.


This is also a skills project on gluing and handling various types and sizes of objects. It is hard for the kids to remember not to put the glue stick on items like the cotton ball, felt, and stars as they stick to it. We also worked on how to properly close the glue sticks to return them to the tote. 

The second texture project for the kindergarten was to construct the picture following directions to find a "fuzzy stem" and glue it on for a flower. Each group of students were given a plate full of items to "find"  each type of texture from. The large doilies were rough and served as the sun the remainder built our flowers and gave the group an additional gluing activity. 

The 1st grade took on a slightly different type of project to demonstrate texture by creating a mitten bookmark. Students were given a felt mitten and a selection of materials to identify fuzzy, soft, hard, rough and smooth. Each was able to create his/her own design then the mittens were attached to a  thick ribbon to serve as a bookmark. It was a very popular project with lots of variety in the designs. 

1st grade Water Cycle

We tried a bit of multimedia this week to create the water cycle and demonstrate its
parts. It is always fun to use unusual or different items in the art work so the kids are able to not only integrate the art into their classwork but be able to manipulate a variety of materials.
The students first drew the landscape with a body of water and some kind of plants or trees. They then pulled strands of cotton to demonstrate evaporation, locating the strands over the body of water and placing clouds above the strands. Lastly they used cotton and white crayon to show different kinds of precipitation. Of course some had to add birds, fish and other animals and a variety of legends including WOW.

1st grade illustrates the parts of plants

The 1st graders have been studying plants so we did a collage of materials to create plants then labeled the parts. We used fuzzy yarns for the roots and added pipe cleaner stems, leaves, seeds, berries, and seed pods from a hibiscus and tissue paper flowers to complete the project. The students learned how to twist the paper to make a blossom with a contrasting center. The yarn provided a good discussion on what roots look like. Everyone wanted to be sure the plants had dirt in some manner.

Art in the classroom again--alien names & plant cells

  The kindergarten started the day trying to find alien space creature names in their names. this was a conceptually advanced project that really had problems getting off the ground. They had to fold the paper, then outline their names in chalk to transfer and retrace their names. They had fun, drew lots of pictures but really had a tough time with this one. Some great creatures did appear in the end. 


The 3rd grade created a plant cell with a legend on the lids from plastic produce boxes. They got to chose which items to use for which of the portions of the cell and really did a great job!
Next time we'll create posters of the life cycles of various creatures and plants.