Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Kindergarten

 With my Kindergarteners, I love to begin their art lessons with a story.  This one was based on Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Williams.  I found this wonderful art idea on Cassie Stephens' blog, but changed it a little to fit my time frame.

I had my students draw a pigeon with crayons.  Students then drew a background.  I encouraged designs and symbols in the background.  Students then used watercolors to paint their drawings.  Overall, I think these turned out wonderful!

Art Show!

 Here are some photos of our school wide art show.  Every students from PreK- 5th grade had one piece of artwork in the art show.  There were about 720 works of art on display.

This show doubled as a fundraiser. We used a company called Artome to frame the artwork.  It was really simple.  Basically, I sent artwork to Artome, which I labeled by student name, grade, and class.  They framed the artwork, and brought it the night of the show.  Artome even set the entire show up for me.  We sold the frames for $25 dollars a piece, and parents were able to take their child's framed artwork home that night.  After the show was over, Artome dismantled the entire show and mailed the unsold artwork back to the school about two weeks later.  Artome only charged us for the frames that were sold.

The art show turned out great, and we did end up raising a good amount of money for the school!  If you are looking for an simple way to do an art show for a large school, I would definitely recommend Artome.

Rainy Days, Kindergarten

 My Kindergarten students have been learning about weather in their science class.  I thought this was a great time to do a rain art lesson.  I began this lesson by handing out stencils for the umbrellas.  The umbrellas were traced with pencil and colored with pastels.  The rainy background was done with liquid watercolors.  I encouraged the students to paint in vertical lines, so that it looked more like rain.  Some students got this, some did not.  However, they all turned out great anyway.

Winter Houses, Kindergarten

 I found the idea for this cute art lesson on the blog, Plastiquem.  This lesson is quite simple.  Basically my students used simple shapes to create houses.  Then, we used a bit of torn paper for the snow at the bottom.  After this, we used dots of white paint for the snow in the sky.  Finally, the trees were drawn in oil pastel.

 These are very cute! Plus, It is also a great math integration on shapes.

Fish, Kindergarten

 These adorable fish were made by my kindergartners.  They drew and colored the fish with oil pastels and then painted the background with blue watercolors. 

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!

Starry Night, Kindergarten

 Everyone loves Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, and these are my Kindergartner's rendition of this famous work of art. 

 My students began by drawing stars, winds, and a moon with oil pastels.  We then used watercolors to paint the sky.  Lastly students drew houses on a separate piece of paper, which were then cut out and glued to their painting. 

These are very cute!

Flowers in Hand, Kindergarten

 This is a very cute simple project for Kindergartners.  I found the basic idea for this lesson at Artrageous Afternoon.  This project is based on Picasso's Hands With a Bouquet. 

 To begin this lesson, I had my students trace their hand.  This hand was then cut out and glued to the bottom of the construction paper.  Next, students create tissue paper flowers and glue it to the paper.  Lastly, students draw stems and leaves with oil pastels. 

These are adorable!

100th day of school

I have done this lesson several times, and I know it is a lesson that many art teachers have done. I am not sure where this lesson originated, but I have seen it posted on many sites. On the 100th day of school, I had my students draw themselves as 100 years old. We colored the face with crayon, and used watercolors for the background.
Every year I think these are hilarious!

Ten Black Dots, Kindergarten

This lesson was based off of the book Ten Black Dots, which is part of the Kindergarten math curriculum in my school system. The Kindergarten teachers asked me if I could create an art lesson to go with this book, since they were going to read this book to the kids. I began this lesson by reading Ten Black Dots. I then asked each child to choose a few dots, which I had pre-cut before class. I challenged them to turn the black dots into something. For example; The black dot could be the wheel on a car, or the eyes of an animal. They drew first in black crayon, and then added color.These turned out adorable!

Leaf Prints, Kindergarten

This is a very simple project that I do every year with my kindergartners. For this project, we used real leaves. To do this, we painted the back of the leaf. Then we turned it over, and stamped it to the paper. For the background, we used a sponge and tempera paint.
These turned out great, and look even better in person.

Starry Night, Kindergarten

I have done this project before, and every year I love the results. I always do this at the end of the year because my Kindergartners really don't have the motor skills needed until then. I begin this project by showing Van Gogh's Starry Night. We discuss color and brush work in his painting. To start their artwork, I have them draw stars, a moon, and wind onto their paper with oil pastels. Next, I hand out purple and blue watercolors, which they use to paint the sky. The houses were done on black paper, which were cut out and glued to their painting. I really love the movement in these paintings.

Shapes, Kindergarten

Recently, I needed a quick simple lesson that I could do with my kindergartners. While searching the internet, I found this wonderful lesson from Laugh Paint Create. This was perfect timing because my little kindergartners have been learning about shapes in math class. This was a really simple lesson. I gave each table a pile of pre-cut shapes, which students pieced together to create houses, boats, waves, etc. For the bridge, I just photocopied it onto construction paper, and then had my students cut it out. Before gluing, I had my students design their pictures by laying their shapes onto black paper. They were not allowed to glue until they had my permission. (This makes them think before gluing).
I just love the way these look when hung together.

Flowers, Kindergarten

My Kindergartners have recently been learning about symmetry in their math class, so I thought this was a perfect time for a symmetrical vase art lesson. To begin this lesson, I give each child a piece of construction paper folded in half. I then walked my students through drawing the vase. The trickiest part is getting the students to draw along the fold. Inevitably, there are always a couple students who will need help. After drawing the vase, my students cut the vase out. I always emphasize the importance of keeping the paper folded, and cutting through both sides of the paper.
After the vase is finished, I have my students start on the flowers. For the middle of the flower, I have my students use a Q-tip to paint a circle. Then, I hand out flower stamps. (I made my own stamps out of craft foam). Instead of a stamp pad, I give my students a sponge covered in paint. I then demonstrate how to stamp the pedals. I always tell them to put the stamp on the paper, and then lift it straight up. I emphasize the importance of not smearing the stamp around.
I really think these turned out well. It is always fun watching the kindergartners grow throughout the year. These students did such a wonderful job, I can tell they are almost ready for first grade.

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.

Trucks and Tractors, Kindergarten

Every year, around this time, the Kindergarten teachers do a Wheel theme with the students. Once I hear that the Kinders are doing this theme again, I break out this Truck and Tractor lesson. It's a success every time. After all, Kindergartners LOVE trucks, so of course my students really get into this lesson.
Quite a while ago, I saw this lesson on Deep Space Sparkle, and I have used this lesson many times. Basically, I begin this lesson by teaching students how to break up a truck into shapes. For example: A circle can be a wheel, or a rectangle can be the body of the truck. I have the students draw everything with a thick black marker. After this, I give the students oil pastels to color their truck. I usually encourage the students to color the entire page, leaving no white space.
I think these turned out quite Amazing!

100 Years Old, Kindergarten

Every year, the kindergartners celebrate the 100th day of school. This year, on the 100th day, we drew ourselves 100 years old. I have seen this lesson posted on several blogs. Most recently I saw it on School at St. George Place, but I am unsure where it originated.Before beginning, we discussed what people look like when they get old. Surprisingly, many of my kids have never seen an elderly person, and therefore did not know what they looked like. To help them understand, I showed the students photos of elderly people. We discussed how old people usually have wrinkles and gray hair. First, we drew the face, neck, and shoulders with a black crayon. We also added hair and wrinkles. After this, I handed out multicultural crayons for students to color the skin. The hair was painted with silver watercolor paint, and the background was painted with watercolors as well. I think these are wonderful! and the students certainly enjoyed this lesson.

Ten Black Dots, Kindergarten

What can you turn a black dot into? That was the idea behind this lesson. Ten Black Dots is written by Donald Crews, and is a wonderfully creative book.

This book is part of the kindergarten curriculum in my district, so I thought I would turn it into an art project. Basically this is a counting book. The book takes black dots and turns them into things. One black dot is turned into a moon; Two black dots are turned into eyes, and so on... For this project, I cut out lots of black dots. Students then chose a few black dots and glued it to their papers. Then, students turn the black dots into things. Students drew in pencil first, and then outlined everything in black. Lastly, students used crayons and colored their drawings. This was a super simple lesson, and the results were just so cool.