Monsters Love Colors

I was at Target today and saw this book, Monster Love Colors, on the shelf.  Being that I am an elementary art teacher, I was instantly drawn to it and, of course, had to buy it.  It  reminds me of, Mouse Paint....but with monsters   Who doesn't love cute colorful monsters   The primary colored monsters color secondary monsters.  I  already foresee a cute monster color theory lesson plan in my 1st graders future.  I would definitely recommend this book!

* a quick side note....  This book was $15.99 at Target, but they price match Amazon, so I only paid $10.87 :)

Painting Owls…

I don’t know about you, but I do love owls (especially colorful ones).  I have been sucked into all the cute art and jewelry there is out there.  I even started an owl board on my Pintrest account. 

I was at a school book fair and ran across this book…

It is a cute little story about a lonely white owl who meets a group of colorful owls.  At first the colorful owls don’t know what to think because the white owl is “different,” but they soon learn to be friends.  I like the the patterns in the colorful owls.

I read this story to my 1st graders and then we drew a simple owl together on 12x18 paper.  I showed the kids how to make different eyes and beaks.  Once they had their drawing done, I had them outline their owl in black oil pastel.  Then students started painting with tempera cakes.

The next class period they finished painting with tempera cakes.  Then I gave them a variety of regular tempera paint.  Students added details and designs to their pictures. 

I was happy with the cute results.  Each owl seems to have it’s own personality.  My 1st graders always love painting :)

Penguin Prints

 
I always seem to be looking for lessons to do with my 1st graders.  I was looking through my book 365 things to make a do and stumbled upon cute fingerprint penguins.  I decided to use the penguins for a lesson.

Fist I read the story, A Penguin Story.  It  is about a penguin looking for color other then blue, black and white. 


Next, the students picked a 9x12 background color (I gave them purple, blue and orange to choose from).  We used white paper to rip the ice glaciers for the penguins habitat.  We looked at photos of different penguins too.  I was impressed that some of the kids knew all about penguins.  More than me!

Then I demonstrated how to make a penguin by stamping their thumb(body) and forefinger(head).  The kids used white paint and Q-tips to add snow and the white for the body.  We then used oil pastels for the feet.
 
On the next class, we finished the face and added details.  I let them use sharpie for the eyes, but made it very clear that sharpie can not touch the oil pastels.  Once the sharpies were put away they added beaks, and other extras.  One of my students came up with the idea to add the yellow feathers for the Macaroni penguin.  Kids always amaze me!

I love the ides these students had.  The penguin stuck in the igloo is too funny!

Color study with Kandinsky

  I have to say that Kandinsky is probably my favorite artist.  I had the opportunity in college to go to Munich, Germany and went to a small museum/ house that displayed his art.  There were four rooms of Kandinsky art and I was blown away.  I love his use of color and movement. So with that being said, I love teaching Kandinsky.  I especially like sharing his Farbstudie painting.

  I have done this lesson several times before and I always mix it up a little. This time around I had first graders use tempera cakes and then add finishing touches with oil pastel.  I pre-folded 12x18 paper into eighths and had students use a tracer for the first circle and then make the rest. 

  

Here is another version I have taught.  In the pictures below, we drew out our designs with oil pastel first.  Then the students used liquid watercolors to complete the background. 

One last note… Kandinsky can be a tricky name for the kids to remember.  Anytime I teach a new name with my first graders, we clap it out…KAN DIN SKI.  We do this several times in different high and low pitched voices.  This will get giggles, but I know they enjoy it!The next week they come to class they usually remember. 

Marshmallow Prints

This is a quick lesson I did with some 1st graders right before break.  They were already using white paint to decorate their gingerbread houses, so they made prints as well.  I showed them how to not make the paint thick, so they would try in time to decorate with oil pastels.  If I do this again next year, I will not rush them through the decorating process. 

I made sure to save extra marshmallows for eating too!

Gingerbread House Drawings...

I have to admit I do enjoy adding some festive lessons plans into my curriculm. The students enjoy them, and they tend to fit well in the art schedule right before break. Here are a few cute gingerbread houses my 1st graders created.

We started by drawing a house together. I then showed pictures of gingerbread houses and we discussed what to add to their houses. The students used color sticks and construction paper crayons to colors their houses (I showed a demo on how well theses materials work on back paper in comparison with regular crayons. The kids are always amazed). On the next day they added “frosting” of white paint, to finish their pictures.

This little girl was absent on the first day we drew our houses, but I love what she came up with on her own. Very creative!

Warm Mittens in the Cold Winter

I was going through some of my old pictures and was reminded on this winter lesson. Students traced their hand to make mittens and decorated with warm colors. Then they used white oil pastels to add snow in the background and colored with cool colors. I believe I found this idea on Artsonia a few years ago.

More Rizzi Inspired Art…

This is a simple lesson I taught to my 1st graders. I only spent one 50 min. class on this project. In retrospect, I would have taken two days. I think the results would have been better.

Step 1: We looked at pictures of James Rizzi’s silly buildings (as I call them)

Step 2: Each chose a colored piece of paper and cut it into an interesting building shape. Some students made a pop out door. They glued their building on a 9x12 piece of black paper.

Step 3: We added details using construction paper crayons (I first demonstrate how these crayons work on black paper compared to regular crayons. The kids are always amazed.)

Step 4: Lastly, I gave the students sequence and foam shapes to add to their buildings.

Mouse Paint....Learning about Color

Every year I introduce the Elements of Design to my 1st graders. We we have been learning about color and just completed our Mouse Paint project. I saw this idea on Artsonia probably 4 years ago and having been teaching it ever since. The kids always seem to enjoy this lesson.

Day one: We start by reading the story and discussing primary and secondary colors. Then we add circles of the primary colors on white 12x18 paper. The we mix the secondary colors and add circles. Then I let the kids mix all the colors together to get brown.
Day two: We use black sharpie and turn our circles into little mice. We then add extras like cheese, paint buckets and the cat. We finish by adding crayon. I like how this student colored the background.

Klee Castles

I love surfing different art education blogs. Last week I came across this neat lesson at Use Your Colored Pencils. It was perfect for my 1st graders who had been learning about shape.

We discussed the different shapes that are in Paul Klee’s painting “Castle and the Sun.” The I handed out lots of 1in. squares. I posed the questions, “How can you turn a square into 2 triangles with just one line?” I was thrilled that one of my students told me I had to draw a diagonal line (Yay! He remembered the word diagonal!). Then students used the shapes to make their own castles. Neat project! Thanks Anne!