kindergarten kastles

I first saw this lesson on Deep Space Sparkle and pinned it on Pinterest. I love how the sponge-stamped "bricks" show the texture of the castle! We used our sponge paint daubers so our fingers didn't get messy. Worked like a charm!!!

We then used a mixture of painted papers, scrap papers, fringed papers (grass), and torn papers (moat) to add in the details. The kids had so much fun....and their energy and enthusiasm for the project definitely reflected in the results!

I gave them the choice to leave them with me for a bulletin board or to take them home...

...and my bulletin board is still empty.

SIGH.

I'd better tell tomorrow's group that they HAVE to leave them with me or I won't have any decor around here!

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more luli sanchez dot paintings

As I was passing back artwork in second grade today I realized that I hadn't posted more pictures of our luli sanchez dot/circle stamps! While I know this idea isn't unique, you may want to check out some of some of her beautiful and inspiring fabrics! My original post is right here.

Happy stamping!

The Coke Bears

My Second graders have been discussing different careers that would require some Art knowledge and they are totally enlightening themselves! They are realizing that MANY, MANY careers out there require some knowledge of color, graphics, design, etc. It's so fun to see their little minds work!

I heard recently that Coke was putting out new Coke cans for the Holiday Season which would be white with polar bears on them, and a portion of the proceeds from these special cans would go toward protecting the polar bears. To my kids, it's just another Coke can. After today, though, I really hope they realized that someone designed that can, probably someone with an artistic bone in their body.

The Coke polar bear campaign has been around since 1922! Over the years the commercials and print ads have really evolved...but this is an ad that my students can relate to! So today, after reading about the lore of the Coke polar bears, we whipped up some of our own. We used 12x18 blue paper and styrofoam printing paper. The kids drew their polar bear onto the styrofoam and printed it. We used the leftover styrofoam to make small nose, eye, and mouth stamps. Lastly, we used fabric scraps to make a scarf. I had a bunch of kids that wanted to "dress them up" even more, so I may just let them go to town next week with the fabric and yarn bins and see what they come up with!

Here is an example of the bears before I give them artistic license next week! I will be sure to post some "after" pictures, too!

circle, circle, dot, dot weavings

These were some simple weavings with 1" strips and some 1/2" strips glued on every other one.

Yes, I pre-cut their paper looms for them.
Yes, I realize I'm crazy. I've learned my lesson over the years, though, because watching some students cut looms is A.G.O.N.I.Z.I.N.G. It doesn't matter how many different ways I show them, measure them, etc half of them end up being a total disaster.

The result of my labors? 100% perfect results from EVERY.SINGLE.STUDENT, which to a first grader, is what makes the world go 'round. Their beaming faces after completion make my world go 'round!

luli sanchez dot paintings

I was so inspired by the beautiful fabrics that Luli Sanchez (http://www.lulisanchez.com/) makes! They are so simple and understated, but the simple geometric patterns were a great "jumping off point" for some upcycled bottle cap printing done by my fourth graders!

*Recently I was cited by the Fire Marshall for storage in my classroom. I hoard stuff BIG TIME in case my budget doesn't add up, which will probably be the case in the near future! Alas, I decided to dip into my bottlecap stash and that is what we used for the dots (the back sides) and the circles (the bottoms) for this project!

I gave them each 4 colors of paint. They printed the backs (dots) first in rows across and down their papers. On day 2 we printed the circles (rings) in empty spaces and on the tops of the dots in some cases. Sometimes there were distinct rows of circles and dots, and sometimes things got a little confusing. Either way, they turned out GREAT!

One hang-up some of my kids had were the imperfections some of the stamps made. Many of them wanted to have complete circles....but after looking at Luli's "professional" work, they embraced their imperfections, too.

I have lots more to photograph and add...I will do another post with a photobomb later!

happy feet!

I saw these on ARTolazzi's website and knew it was the perfect lesson for my first graders and Kindergartners! After all was said and done, they learned a LOT about geometric forms (circles, right triangles, etc) as well as collage!

For the snowflake "frame" they used pieces of cardboard dipped in white paint. They loved it, though some of them got VERY messy. First grade is doing a huge unit on penguins in their classrooms right now, so their teachers want these for writing prompts and for decoration. I love when teachers take a work of art one step further, or extend the lesson into their classes. It truly shows that art can run the course of all subject matters.

Speaking of that, I was reading in People Magazine this past weekend (on their last page- the "Top Five") about actor Ricky Gervaise. The question was for the actor to mention a "hidden or secret talent". He said he's gotten into painting lately. Abstract mostly. He also mentioned that he considered Art to be man's greatest achievement.

My little art heart melted. In this great time of educational uncertainty...some folks get it.