"Safari September Wildcats"
We discussed the types of wildcats you might see on Safari in Africa. Lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, and more! The students in Kindergarten created a wildcat on a small piece of white paper by creating a circle with sharpie for the head. Next, they added ears, eyes, mouth, whiskers, and part of the body. They colored their cat in with markers and crayons. Then they cut out their cat. During the next art class, the students collaged their cat to a background and added grass, a tree, and leaves. The cats are hiding in the grass!
"Shape Robots"
Continuing our focus on "collage," the Kindergartners created a "shape robot." The children listened to a story called "BOY + BOT" by Ame Dyckman. We discussed geometric shapes and I demonstrated how to make a square, circle, and triangle by cutting rectangles into these shapes. We discussed the parts of a robot and the children glued their shapes down together to make a robot. The last step was to use crayons for the face and background. They did a GREAT job!
"Frankenstein Kids"
The kindergartners watched a minute long parody of the "Madeline" books by Ludwig Bemelmans. This was about monsters walking in two crooked lines and so on. Very short and funny! I showed them an easy way to draw a "Frankenstein Kid" with black oil pastel. They also used yellow to make lightning-electricity. The last step was to paint their "Frankenstein boy or girl. They did a great job and they turned out super cute!
"Painted paper with stripes, lines, and patterns"
The students in Kindergarten painted stripes across their paper with tempera cakes. After they filled their page with stripes, the students used black paint on top to make lines and patterns. During the 2nd art class, we discussed 2-D and 3-D. The students cut their stripes with the fun scissors. Next, they folded and twisted their strips and glued the ends down on a black cardstock piece of paper. I demonstrated how to create a 3-d paper sculpture. The students were very creative and really had fun with their sculpture. They are on display near the art room!
"Leaf Printing"
The children painted leaves with Kwik Stix. They are solid tempera paints in a stick form and they dry in 90 seconds. The kids loved painting the leaves with these, flipping the leaves over onto paper, and rubbing down with their hands. They turned out beautiful and the students enjoyed the printing process.
"Mondrian Inspired Collages"
Kindergartners learned about the artist Piet Mondrian by watching a one minute and 15 second video called "Building the Boogie." They learned that his painting "Broadway Boogie Woogie" actually represents roads, cars, and buildings in New York City, They learned the word abstract. We also discussed the primary colors and the students created their own collage using colors and shapes inspired by Mondrian.
"Geometric and Organic shapes"
The students listened to the story "Oooh! Matisse" by Mil Niepold ad Jeanyves Verdu. We discussed geometric and organic shapes. The students took turns drawing some geometric and organic shapes on the board. The students folded a big sheet of white paper in half like a book. Next, they painted geometric shapes on one side and organic on the other.
"Winter Houses"
The students created a collage of a house in winter time. They could make their house or any house. They used Kwik Stix to add snow and a snowman to their background. Some students (who celebrate Christmas) wanted to add lights to their house or a Christmas tree. They were very festive!
"Polar Bear Drawings"
The students listened to "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. Next, I showed them how to draw a polar bear's head by making a rainbow. The students colored with chalk. Some of the students added baby polar bears, and even a background. They did a great job!
"Paper Roll Penguins"
Some of the Kindergarten classes made a 3-d penguin sculpture from paper. They had fun rolling paper for the head and body of their penguin. they made a beak, wings, feet and added wiggly eyes. They had fun constructing these cuties! They learned to be patience and really rub and hold their pieces together with glue sticks!
"Heart Paintings"
The students in Kindergarten traced hearts to make a design with pencil. They added lines and patterns inside of their hearts. They traced over their lines with black glue (just glue and black paint mixed together in a glue bottle). The next time they came to art, they painted their hearts with bright colors using tempera cakes.
"Miro Inspired Abstract People"
The students learned about the artist Joan Miro and abstract art. The children looked at a handout with different shapes for heads, bodies, facial features, etc. The students chose the shapes they liked to create their own Miro inspired abstract person. They colored with Kwix Stix and painted their background blue. The children loved the process!
"James Rizzi Inspired Birds"
The students learned about the artist James Rizzi. He loved to draw birds and use child-like simple shapes, as well as patterns and bold colors! Once they drew their bird, the children used tempera cakes to add color.
"March Shamrocks"
The students in Kindergarten traced a shamrock with sharpies. Next they used the media of their choice to add color and patterns.`
"ARlo needs glasses"
The kindergartners listened to the story "Arlo Needs Glasses" by Barney Saltzburg. They enjoyed creating their dog or their own version of Arlo. Most students created glasses for their dog with designs on them. I think they are ADORABLE!
"Clay Turtles"
"Little Red Riding Hood"/Goldilocks & the three Bears"
"Spring Bug of Choice"
The students in Kindergarten drew their favorite bug with sharpie. They choose crayons, oil pastels, or liquid watercolors to add color. We are now ready for SUMMER!
"Sea Creature of Choice"
The students listened to the story "Commotion in the Ocean" by Giles Andreae. The students chose the ocean creature or creatures of choice to draw with oil pastels. They added seaweed, sand, other fish, etc. Once they finished, they painted with liquid watercolors. They drew some awesome creatures!
"Concentric Shapes"
The students chose from one of three centers about concentric circles/shapes. At the first, they could create a concentric tree. For the second center, the students could create two concentric apples using markers and oil pastels. For the last center, the students traced small, medium, and large circles to create 4 concentric circles. For the last step, they painted their circles.
"Hot Dogs or Cool Cats"
The students in Kindergarten were introduced to the warm and cool colors. They were able to choose to draw a "cool cat" or a 'hot dog." Some students chose to do both. They were given handouts for inspiration that had several shapes for cat and dog bodies, heads, etc. They drew with a skinny markers and then colored in their picture with crayons. They also added texture to their background with the side of a crayon.