Spring Flowers

I am so impressed with the sponge print flowers this Kindergarten/Grade 1 class created.  We used the same technique as we did for our SUNFLOWERS and POINSETTIAS.  

So pretty! :)  

The only difference with this lesson is we used different colors of green chalk pastel 

to color in the background.

Spring!

 Here is a lesson inspired by The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.

After reading the book we decided to use the same painted papers we had left over from our Winter Birds buddy activity.  Once again we got together with our Big Buddies for a little extra help.

Using petal tracers that they had made for us, we cut out approximately 10 petals and arranged them in a circle around a yellow tissue paper circle.  Green tissue was used to create a stem and leaves.  We then used whatever scraps of painted paper and tissue we had to create an insect.

Mixed Media Flowers

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited into my daughters Grade 4/5 class to do an art lesson.  I always look forward to the opportunity to work with intermediate students.  The toughest thing for me is deciding on a project that I can do in one hour or in one afternoon.  Here is what I came up with.

 

  

  In one afternoon we touched upon many concepts including colour choice, blending colours, proportion, overlapping and line.  The flowers were drawn and coloured with chalk pastel and outlined in oil pastel.  The backgrounds were painted with watercolor.

And now we wait...

I am so disappointed!  

We made these wonderful clay daffodils with another class for spring.  They were supposed to go into our school display case for April and then we were going to wrap them with a tea light candle inside for a Mother's Day gift.  

 

However, something is terribly wrong with our school's kiln.  During the first firing the kiln made so much noise that the Grade 7 class, where the kiln is located, had to relocate to another room!!!

So now we have to wait for our next in-school professional day to do the second firing, so as not to disturb the class again.  Luckily it is at the end of this month.  So, although they won't get the chance to be displayed, they'll at least be ready to go for Mother's Day.

Here is a bird's eye view:

 

Can you figure out what we used to help shape them?  We used a snowflake cookie cutter for the bottom and a small pinch pot for the top.

They are glazed and ready to go. Stay tuned for the finished product!

Watercolor Dandelions

Here is watercolor dandelion lesson I did with my daughter's Grade 2/3 class.  I am so happy with the results!

Students had a 6X9 piece of watercolor paper.  Using baby food jar lids and a pencil, they lightly traced a row of circles, overlapping as they went across from one edge of the paper to the other.  They were instructed not to go straight across but randomly up and down.

Then they had to erase any overlapping lines within 2 of the circles (to create the white dandelions) and then erase any other overlapping lines for the rest of the circles to create depth.

For the yellow dandelions they used their glue cap lids to trace smaller circles in the bigger ones.  They used lines to create the details of the dandelions and the stems.  When done they traced all the pencil lines, except the circles, with a sharpie.  Then they erased ALL the pencil.

Next they used their white crayons to trace around the white dandelion shape and coloured it in.  This softened the dark lines and also created a resist for the paint we later added. 

Then they used a yellow crayon to trace around the outside of the yellow dandelions.

Next the students painted the dandelions with yellow paint.

Then they brushed the bottom of their papers with water before adding paint in 2 different shades of green.  They did the same for the sky - choosing 2 colours of paint to create either a warm or cool sky.

   

      

  

For another dandelion lesson (seen below) click HERE

Bird's Eye View Dandelion in Oil Pastel

Sunflowers

On Earth Day my Grade 1 students planted sunflower seeds.  The plants are now at varying stages of growth and the children excitedly check on their own plant each morning.  I thought the children would enjoy creating some bright sunflower artwork.

We created these sunflower paintings using the same cut sponges used in my

Christmas Poinsettias. 

Day One:  We made our petals by painting the sponges and then stamping them onto our papers.  We drew a small circle with pencil as a reference point and then worked our way around it.  We then used green paint to add a stem and sponged leaves onto the stem.

Day Two:  We used brown oil pastels to colour in the center circle of the sunflower.  We then used orange and green pencil crayons to add texture lines to the petals, stem and leaves.  The final step was to use blue pastel to colour in the background.

 The make our classroom very bright and cheery!