The Tallest Ice-cream Cone, 1st Grade

In this project we discussed the wonderful, Wayne Thiebaud. As soon as the students see it involves food, they are instantly hooked. By the end of the conversation that day, we were all craving a little mint-chocolate-chip (my favorite!). Today, the students finished their ice cream cones with watercolor. They first added sprinkles and such with oil pastels. I didn't know what to do in the background, so I decided to have them kept white for now. If something hits me, then we'll add to them. For now, I like the focus to be on the tall yummy stacks of ice cream.

Beautiful Butterflies (in progress), 2nd Grade

Pictures for this short post will be enough. Enjoy.

Birdies, Kindergarten

Thank you to Patty for this great little step by step on birds...my kindergarteners loved it :) We kept them simple, but it was fun for them to learn something new they could draw.

Andy Warhol/Campbells Printmaking, 4th Grade

The students LOVED learning about the wild and whimsical Andy Warhol. They were drawn to his soup cans from the beginning, so naturally when it was time for a printmaking project, that's where my mind went.

The students added detail with prisma-colors. They ended up with either 2, 3 or 4 of their favorites. I liked doing it this way, because the products all turned out differently when matted and framed.

Stained Glass Windows, 1st Grade

I liked this simple 1-2 day project with 1st graders. I made them follow my directions, but everyone's still turned out different.

For example:
-Start with one large circle
-Make a circle go half-way off the page (cropped)
-Connect a line from the edge to one of the circles

...and the list goes on and on. Voila! They come out with some cool creations, outline them in sharpie, and color in using anything you'd like (we used glitter and regular crayons). They had to leave at least 3 spots white.

Matisse Inspired Name Designs, 2nd Grade

Thank you to DeepSpaceSparkle for this...we loved the idea and ran with it.

I started off by talking a little bit about Matisse's paper cut-outs and showing them his work. I gave them their paper and access to a huge scrap cart. I showed them examples of other students artwork online, and then discussed with them about cutting out letters, shapes, etc. They really liked this, even after I told them NO pencils, surprisingly. I am in awe of how great these turned out in 2nd grade. I wasn't sure because I did them with a younger grade then I saw on Patty's blog. But, it worked...and pretty wonderfully, too.

Flower Vases, 2nd Grade

Thanks to all you lovely art-teacher bloggers out there... the projects I am posting today resulted from your silent inspiration!

I had never done a "drawing with glue" project. I decided it was a MUST. The kids were funny, they complained more then I would have ever suspected about how "hard" it was. But, when they finally got the grasp, they were ok. I showed the students Van Gogh's sunflowers for inspiration, but they were not limited to doing just sunflowers. We used colored chalk, which...was a bit messy. Overall, they turned out nice. Here is one of my favorites:

American Flags, 4th Grade....SO impressed.

I just want to show you my bulletin board displaying 4th grade's realistic American flags. They are lovely. It's a shame it's not like...memorial day, presidents day, or 4th of july. But heck...I was reminded by one of my colleagues that, "We can be patriotic ANY day!"

Yo-Yo's and creativity.

I've been telling my friend Sarah, over at Present Expression that we need to get together so she can show me some of the tricks of the trade. You see, I love making earrings and being crafty, but her craftiness level is well beyond mine. She is super inspiring. My husband is away this weekend, and I found myself extremely BORED last night. Me and the dogs. Woohoo! What fun. So, I happened to post something on my facebook about being so incredibly bored. Within minutes, Sarah had posted back...''Up for being creative?" I was so excited! So of course, I jumped on the opportunity, and over I went.

She loves to make yo-yo's and most of you probably know what they are. Well, I had never made one before, so that was where I wanted to start. She has so much cool vintage fabric after collecting over the years. Ah, so envious! But, its awesome. I ended up creating a yo-yo necklace for myself. She had some little shoe-string's knitted. We added on the jewelry connections, we found the best place for the yo-yo to go....and sewed it on. ALL by hand, I might add ;) Then, we found the weight to be a little much, so I added on some beading to make it just perfect. You like? I do. She has inspired me. So, now...I will be out treasure hunting for the next 5 years looking for old chains, ugly earrings, vintage fabric, and anything else I can get my hands on. I may come out smelling musty, but I'll get myself some fabulous finds. (i'm hoping!)

Palm Tree Silhouettes, 3rd Grade

I got this idea through another blog. I love perusing those blogs and finding what I can to get lessons or ideas. We started with a 12x18 white piece of paper. We talked about the color wheels. We started with green, and went around...adding all the colors, blending with watercolor. The students added the silhouette part using black tempera the 2nd week. One of the students, you'll see, took a little artistic license and it's not exactly a "silhouette" anymore. But, its lovely nevertheless.

You know me...I'm a sneak-peek type of gal.

I can hardly ever wait till the final product is finished to snap pictures! I might have an illness ;) So, here are some sail boats in action. We did the sails and such in oil pastel to keep them bright and vibrant, and the focal point. The rest will be done (and is being done!) in watercolors. The kids were loving blending the colors. I adore watercolors. Oh, and they all named their boats, which was fun. They came up with some really creative names!

Paper Plate Weaving/Design, 4th Grade

I'm going to walk you through this assignment because it's totally worth it. The pictures aren't the best, but you will get the idea and be able to create one on your own. I found the idea a few weeks ago on an online art gallery, possibly Artsonia....I actually can't recall! However, I'll walk you through the way I did with my kids.

1. Start with a paper plate. It needs to be upside down (dome-like). Find the center, poke a good sized hole with your pencil.

2. Use scissors and cut even slits around the outside rim of the plate. If you're using the same type of plates I used (the cheap kind!) then you can have them count the 'bubbles' in between to keep it even.

3. Cut yarn about 6-7 inches. You will need as many pieces as the number of slits you cut. I had my students use either black or white yarn, no "colors" for this part.

4. Put one end of the yarn through the hole, and the other through the slit. Tie in a knot on the back (which is actually the front of the plate). Do this the entire way around. It does take some time!

(How it should look in the end. The back side will have a lot of ragged ends, but it's OK...
it won't be seen!)

5. Begin weaving. Start in the center with whatever color the students would like for their design. I recommend only starting with about 12 inches of yarn in that color. Pull the string through just tucking away the end, and begin to do an over/under/over/under pattern going around the paper plate. After each revolution, push yarn down towards the center (to keep it tight). When finished with that color, start another color where that one ended, and continue out to the edge.

6. Final Product: Use markers that match your design, and create any design around the edge of the paper plate. Staple to background paper for the final finished look!

Enjoy!! The kids LOVE this.

Wayne Thiebaud and Printmaking, 3rd Grade

I wanted to teach the kids about printmaking. I wanted to teach the kids about an artist. They are always so interested in drawing yummy things. So, who better to teach them about then Wayne Thiebaud?! Some of their prints turned out so good. In the final project (which you won't see today) the students have selected their favorite 4 prints and arranged them the way you'd see a pop artist do so. I'm excited about them, so I want to give a preview. Happy Monday!

Rousseau Tigers, 1st Grade

Using oil pastels for the tiger, chalk for the background...and next week, adding tissue paper exotic flowers to the background for some texture....overall, they turned out pretty cute! I got this idea from Art Project For Kids...love that website.