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!

Falling Through Space, 5th Grade

I have done this lesson many times, but this year the results are better than ever before.  This year, we had more time to do this project, and therefore their drawings had more detail.  This lesson focuses on the concept of foreshortening.  This is a hard concept for even experienced artists, so to make it simpler, we traced our hands and feet.  The other details were drawn in after.

 I found the idea for this lesson years ago on the blog Oodles of Art.  Over the years, I have adapted this lesson, and this year the results are amazing.

 I just LOVE these!

Cupcakes, 5th grade

 My fifth graders recently drew these beautiful cupcakes. The focus of this lesson was to use tints and shades to create a realistic cupcake. These were colored with soft pastels.

Paper Masks, 5th Grade

 This lesson focused on symmetry.  Students created a symmetrical mask by cutting paper.

 I LOVE the detail in these!

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!

Cupcakes, 3rd grade

 This week my third graders created these beautiful clay cupcakes. To begin, my students looked at the artwork of Wayne Thiebaud.  My students then used the pinch pot method and silicone cupcake molds to create these awesome cupcakes.  After these cupcakes were bisque fired, students used tempera paint to add color to their creation.  Of course if you have the time and resources, these could easily be glazed instead.

 These are beautiful, and my students are very proud of them!

House for Hermit Crab, 1st Grade

The first grade teachers recently asked me to do an art lesson on A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle, since they were reading it in class.  I love Eric Carle's art, so I jumped at this chance.  Here are the results.