Paper Masks, 4th Grade

 I have taught this lesson many times, and my students always love it.  We begin by looking at masks from around the world.  Then students construct a paper mask using paper, scissors, and glue.  I generally allow my students to create anything (animal, monster, or person).  However, every mask must have, eyes, nose, mouth, and other details.

These turned out great this year!

Animal Silhouettes, 5th Grade

This was a wonderful lesson to help students understand the concept of mixing tints.  Students began painting the background by mixing one color with white. The idea was to get subtle changes in the color by adding more or less white.

 After the background was created, students chose an animal to paint on top.  I allowed students to choose any animal they wished.

I found the idea for this lesson on TeachAndShoot.com.  Overall, I think the results were great!

Paper Mache Cats, 5th Grade

These paper mache cats took us almost 3 months to complete.  With almost 120 fifth graders, I felt like the cats were beginning to take over the art room.  Paper mache is always a fun project, but it takes a lot of coordination and time.

 I began by having students use wadded up newspaper and foil to created the body, head, legs, and tail.  Students then added 3 layers of paper mache to their sculpture.

 After the paper mache was dry, we used tempera paint to add details.  I found that the kids had trouble painting the eyes on, so the eyes were drawn on a piece of white paper and glued to their cat.

These are wonderful!

Fish, 3rd Grade

I found the idea for this lesson on Deep Space Sparkle.  To begin this lesson, students painted a piece of paper.   After the paper was dry, students cut their paper into fish.  I wanted my students to focus on repetition, so students created a stencil and traced their fish 3 or 4 times.  After their fish were cut out and glued, students used a marker lid to stamp bubbles onto their paper.

 These are wonderful!

Pre-K, Polka Dot Owls

Pre-K students are adorable, but I have always found it difficult to come up with art lessons for these little ones.  Thank goodness for sites like Pinterest, where 90 percent of my Pre-K art ideas come from.  I found this project on pinterest, unfortunately I do not know what blog or website it was pinned from, because it does not seem to lead back to the original site.

This lesson requires quite a few pre-cut shapes, and the art teacher in me almost cringes just saying pre-cut shapes.  As a general rule, I do not like pre-cutting anything for my students because I prefer my students to create their own work.  However, after several years of teaching Pre-K students, I have come to the conclusion that pre-cut shapes are a necessity at the beginning of the school year.  For most of these students, holding scissors is a brand new concept, and it will take a good portion of the year before they are proficient with them.

Owls, 5th Grade

These beautiful owls were made by my fifth graders.  This project took three, 30 minute, classes.  To begin this project, students drew an owl that had interesting lines or patterns onto black paper.  Next, students painted a different piece of paper with with two analogous colors.  After the background had dried, students cut their owl out and glued it to their painted background.

 I think these are just beautiful!

Indian Elephants, 4th Grade

These Indian Elephants were inspired from several elephant lessons that I found online.  One was MaryMaking and the other was, Painted Paper.

 To begin this lesson, we talked about the importance of Elephants in the Indian culture.  I also showed my students images of decorated elephants from the Indian Elephant Festival, which is an annual event in India.

To draw our elephants, I showed my students step by step how to draw an elephant.  After this, my students used a Crayola washable marker to trace their elephant.  Once the elephant was traced, students used water and a paintbrush to do a simple wash over the elephant.  This turned the marker into a simple watercolor.  Next, students cut their elephants out and glued it to their paper.  Lastly, students used oil pastels and construction paper to decorate their elephants.

These turned out WONDERFUL!  I just love them!

Symmetrical Butterflies, 1st Grade

 This is a very cute simple art lesson.  I started by having my students fold their paper in half, "hot dog style."  Then, students drew half of a butterfly with oil pastel.  Next, students folded their paper so their design was now on the inside, like a sandwich.  Students then rubbed their paper until the design was copied onto the opposite side of their paper.  Once the butterfly was drawn, students used watercolors to paint. 

These are very pretty. 

Penguins, 2nd Grade

 These penguins were created by my second graders.  I found the idea  for this lesson on Flickr.  Overall, this lesson was simple. I taught my students how to draw a penguin.   Students then added clothes (such as coats, scarves, or hats).  Next, my students painted everything with tempera paint.  After this, students cut their penguin out and glued it to blue paper.  Lastly, students added snow in the background.

 I think these are adorable!

Symmetrical Butterflies, 2nd Grade

These very cute butterflies were made by my second graders.  We began by folding a piece of paper in half and drawing half of the butterfly in black pastel.  Next, we refolded our paper so that the design was on the inside.  We then rubbed the paper so that the pastel design transferred to the other side.  After the butterfly was complete, we used liquid watercolors to paint. 

 I think these turned out beautiful!  I love the colors. 

Giraffes, Kindergarten

Recently my students took a field trip to the zoo, so I thought it would be fun to create giraffes.  I had my students draw the giraffes with a black oil pastel.  Then, students used liquid watercolors to paint their giraffes. 

I think these are cute!

Pattern Cats or Dogs, 2nd Grade

I've done this lesson many times in the past. I originally found this idea on Deep Space Sparkle. I love this lesson because it is very simple. Basically, I teach my students how to draw a cat or a dog. Then each child fills their dog or cat with patterns. Lastly, we cut them out and glue them to construction paper.
These are very cute!

Penguins, Pre-K

I came across this really cute idea on the blog Just For Fun. The idea from this blog was to create a stamp from a potato, but because I didn't have enough potatoes for 24 preschoolers, I decided to make stamps from craft foam. Basically, I just made a stamp by cutting out a piece of craft foam and then gluing a clothes pin to the top for a handle. After stamping on the body and the wings, we glued a small white oval for the belly. We then used Q-tips to add the feet, beak, and snow to our paintings. While students were working on this, I went around and helped glue a googly eye to their project. These are just too CUTE!

Patterned Owls, 1st Grade

This is a very simple and adorable project. I began by teaching my students to draw an owl (they used black crayon for this). Next, I gave them oil pastels to draw patterns inside their owl. (Pastels were also used to draw stars). I then gave my students red, yellow, and orange liquid watercolors to paint their owl. Lastly, they were given black watercolor for the sky.

These are super cute!

Salmon, 4th Grade

My fourth graders recently read a story called Salmon Summer in their English class. To tie my art lesson into this, I had my students look at Native American salmon art. Native American salmon are very decorative and expressive. I found many examples of salmon art by searching in Google images.
For this project, I had my students draw their own expressive salmon. These salmon included interesting designs and patterns. Students drew everything with black crayon, and then painted with yellow, red, and orange watercolors.
I am quite impressed with the results of this project.

Giraffes, Kindergarten

Recently the kindergartners went to the zoo, so I thought this would be a good time to do a giraffe project. Since my kindergartners have been in school for almost a year now, I thought it was time to really get into the skills of painting. As a lot of you know, when kinders paint, they will often paint sloppy putting all the colors on top of each other, until it is a muddy brown color. At the beginning of the year, I do not make a fuss about this, but by the end, I try to get them to slow down and think about their color choices.I based this project on the artwork of Betsy Fowler. She is known for painting animals in very bright vibrant colors. Click on the link to see her artwork, I think you will LOVE it.
To begin this project, I had my students use a stencil to trace the head of the giraffe. This was the only part that was traced. The eyes, ears, nose, horns, spots, and neck were all drawn by the student, with a little direction from me of course. After drawing in pencil, I gave everyone a black crayon to outline with. Next, we began painting with liquid watercolors. I started by having each student choose one color to paint the spots with. (All the spots had to be that one color). After painting the spots, I had my students use a paper towel to dab off any puddles. (This will help keep the spots from running into their next color). Then, I had my students choose a different color to paint the rest of the giraffe (The only rule was that it had to be a different color than the spots). Lastly, I handed out purple paint for the background.
These turned out great. This was the first time that I have allowed my kindergartners to use liquid watercolors, but it really turned out well.

Chinese Gold Fish, 5th grade

I did this project several months ago, but I forgot to post on it. I did this lesson with my fifth graders because I wanted them to learn to loosen up when they paint. Often, I find that they are so worried about making a mistake, that they don't know how to paint freely and loosely. For this lesson, we focused on Chinese Gold Fish Paintings. If you search in google images, you can find lots of examples of these. Chinese goldfish paintings tend to be very loose, and the artist does not usually sketch the fish out ahead of time.
For this lesson, my students could NOT draw with pencil. Everything had to be sketched with paint. We used liquid watercolors, but you could also use India Ink or regular watercolors. My students painted the fish first, and the seaweed second. All mistakes had to be fixed with paint. An accidental drip of paint could become a bubble, or even extended into seaweed. I told my students that, "Our goal is to make our mistakes look like they were done on purpose." I really like the loose free brush strokes in these paintings.

Pigs, Pre-K

These really cute pig paintings were painted by my little Pre-K students. I found this really cute lesson on Deep Space Sparkle. There are so many wonderful lessons on her blog, and I am constantly searching her site for great ideas. This one was perfect for my little Pre-K students, especially since they have recently been learning about farms.
For this lesson, I taught my students how to draw a pig. With Pre-K I usually have them draw with crayon rather than pencil because they will draw bigger. Plus, most of these little ones don't need or want to erase things anyway. After drawing, I gave my students liquid watercolors to paint with. I gave them only one color at a time. We began with pink for the pig. When they were done with the pink paint, I took it away and gave them green for the grass. After this, I took the green paint away and gave them purple for the sky. This just helps keep the students from getting too excited about all the color choices, and also keeps them from mixing all the colors together.
I just love the simple inhibited way Pre-K kids draw.