Libby created a story book and started illustrating it and writing text. Her drawings were excellent along with her added sentences. Remi watched step-by-step videos on how to draw an Ender Man from Minecraft. He was working in his sketchbook observing, measuring, and drawing. The students were thrilled that Cam joined us. Cam started his cobra drawing on marbled paper. Each student was focused on her/his own project, and it was a very productive and harmonious studio.
Remington and Jackson had a visual arts group studio this morning. We started with the marbling technique. We did a step-by-step procedure for marbling paper pumpkins, mummies, and Day of the Dead sugar skulls. Our steps were as follows: 1) Each student sprayed shaving cream in the aluminum pan, 2) he added drops of liquid paint to the shaving cream, 3) he used a wooden tool to swirl or marble the paint in the shaving cream, 4) he placed the paper face down in the shaving cream, and 5) after he pulled the paper off the foam, we used a squeegee to scrape the shaving cream off to reveal our marbled print. We were left with beautiful, marbled pumpkins, sugar skulls for Day of the Dead, and mummies. The artists want to hang these artworks in the lunchroom for our school Halloween party.
Then we went to our STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) station and created Halloween figures out of toilet paper rolls. Each artist made a vampire with bat wings. It was a productive studio!
Ice Cream Cone Art Activity: Literacy, Following Directions, and Creating.
Lesson Outline
We read the book Unicorns Love Ice Cream. Then I showed them the steps of the project. Students got a premade ice cream cone template and then glued burlap on for texture like a true ice cream cone. Then the students made their “ice cream” scoops by tracing circle stencils on paper and cutting out the scoops. Next, they glued the scoops to the cones. Then they decorated the ice cream with oil pastels and “sprinkles” (punched out color paper). This activity incorporates different media and techniques which help the little artists build skills.
After reading The Jellyfish Who Lost its Glow to the class, I asked the students the following questions: 1) have you ever lost something? 2) have you ever asked for help with something? 3) can you describe a problem you may have had and how you solved it? and 4) have you ever worked as a team to help solve a problem?
As a result of this project, the students learned the following:
1. About various sea life
2. How friends can work together as a team to solve problems.
3. How to use various materials and manipulatives: tracing a stencil, marker color transfer process, glue, yarn, markers, etc., to create their jellyfish.
4. How to follow step-by-step directions.
I gave each student a Fall Art Activities packet. There were fall leaves that needed to be colored. I had the little artists color with marker on aluminum foil, then spray the foil with water, and lay the leaf template over the foil. The colors on the foil having been liquified by the sprayed water, transferred onto the leaf templates beautifully. They could make as many leaves as they wanted. Also included in the packet was a pumpkin template. I gave them red and yellow paint, since they know that red + yellow = orange. This was a good review for them. There was a bare tree that needed fall leaves. I had the students use yellow, red, and brown paint, so they could dip their fingers in each color and make the leaves from fingerprints. There was also an ear of corn to be colored in a method of their choice: marker transfer or paint. Lastly, there was a football and squirrel. They could use brown paint on bubble wrap to stamp texture on the football and squirrel. When their fall shapes were completed, I had them cut them out and collage them on brown paper. It was a great start to the fall season!
The Lower School artists were creating on large scale paper using chalk and oil pastel and watercolor paint. They drew swirls of lines and painted blocks of color to create their artworks. It was very inspiring to see them work!
