FYI—-I started teaching Kindergarteners art, for the first time this year (in September 2023).
I’ve been teaching art to 1st – 5th grade since September 2013. I’m so glad that K have art now, and I’m really enjoying it!
I’ll hopefully be posting much more than this very soon…. But it’s a start!
PAPER DIFFUSING LEAVES
I had Kindergarten as well as first graders creating these bold, colorful leaves!
I used Roylco diffusing leaves and bingo markers with a little spritz of water after coloring!
The colors came out so incredibly vivid!!
‘Kids just colored their leaf with any colors they wanted! They could dot the colors on, or smear the colors on with the bingo markers. I told kids to fill in the entire leaf, and they could overlap colors here and there too.
After coloring, I walked around with a spray bottle and spritzed each students leaf. Students LOVED seeing the colors bleed and spread all around the leaf. They thought it was magic!
Once dry, black oil pastel (and we tried other dark colors) was added for the veins.
‘Easy, FUN, quick, and very little mess! Which works out great for me since I teach off a cart at one of my two schools!
Lesson idea came from @mrsgreenartartbaby
LEAF RUBBINGS WITH TEXTURED FRAME
Kindergarten created some beautiful framed fall leaf rubbings!
‘Each student got a piece of 9×12” 80# drawing paper, and selected various leaf templates to rub.
They placed each rubbing plate under an area of their paper, then used WARM colored skinless crayons to rub the sides of their crayons to reveal the TEXTURE of the leaf.
I put a bunch of crayons in a “tub” of warm soapy water for about 15-20 minutes, in order to get the papers off easily. Then let dry after dabbing them with paper towels. I do wish though, that Crayola would come out with some “skinless” crayons!! That would be fantastic for so many projects.
Once kids finished their leaf rubbings, they used a darker brown crayon to add TEXTURE ( bark) to their frames.
The “frames” were created simply by drawing a rectangle and then I ran it through the photocopier on brown construction paper.
Then students cut out the centers of the frame, and they glued the leaf picture to their frame!
I showed students how to cut a little slice by poking their scissor into the center somewhere, then they could cut the center out.
LEARNING GOALS;
- students are able to identify what the warm colors are and use them in their artwork
- students can define the element of art texture
- students can create various textures and be able to identify where texture was added to their artwork
- students understand what overlapping means, and utilizes it within their artwork
- students enhance their cutting skills when creating the frame
BUGS IN A JAR
This was a very fun, one day lesson. Kids had a blast creating these adorable bugs!
Students each received a pre-printed outline of the bug jar, and they printed the bugs by coloring their fingers with marker and pressing down onto their paper. I told students they could only color their fingers on one hand, and could choose 5 colors. One color for each finger. We used washable Crayola markers.
My students LOOOVED being able to color their fingers “on purpose”. I did tell them it would take a few hand washings to get the marker off after they were done ( I’m sure parents were thrilled after seeing their kids hands LOL, but it’s for art! )
Once they created at least 10 bugs, and leaving a bit of space around each one for wings, antenna etc, they added legs, antennae and wings etc. using an ultra fine point black sharpie.
Then students cut their jars out with scissors!
LEARNING GOALS
- students learn the basic methods of printmaking by stamping their fingers to leave a print
- students utilize their knowledge of line, to create texture in the insects wings, legs, and antennae
- students enhance their cutting skills
LITTLE CLOUD
These ‘little clouds’ were inspired by the book Little Cloud by Eric Carle. This was a quick two day lesson but it easily could be a one day lesson. 40 minute classes each. Kids loved listening to the story and creating their sweet little clouds.
Day One
Students followed along with me under the document camera to draw their cloud with pencil. I told him it was like drawing the letter M over and over connected. They then drew raindrops in the background with blue crayon. Then they took a blue oil pastel and traced over their cloud line with a thick line. Students then smudged the blue cloud line with their finger. They then added facial details with blue crayon.
Day Two
Students used watercolors to paint the rainbow behind their cloud. Then added rosy cheeks if they wanted to.
Lesson idea from @mrsprice_art
LEARNING GOALS
- Students understand that when a line connects it creates a shape
- Students understand how to create a soft, blurry line by smudging oil pastel
- Students understand the technique crayon wax resist
- Students learn the rainbow’s color order and can show that in their artwork
ORGANIC AND GEOMETRIC SHAPE ROBOT
This lesson took 2 (40 min.) art classes to complete.
After discussing and showing students what organic shapes and geometric shapes were, they watched a fun video about those shapes by Scratch Garden. Here’s the video below!
Then I showed students pictures of various robots for inspiration. Then I demonstrated under the document camera how they could use the pattern block template to create various geometric shapes to create the robot’s body. Students were asked to use geometric shapes somewhere in their robot, but also include some organic shapes as well by drawing them themselves. If finished before the end of art class, they then traced over all their lines with a black sharpie.
DAY 2
Students continued where they left off on day 1 and then added color with markers.
LEARNING GOALS
- Students can define, identify, and create organic and geometric shapes in their artwork
- Students understand that when a line connects, it creates a shape
