gyotaku fish Prints 1st grade

Gyotaku Fish Prints 

I introduced this lesson by showing examples of Gyotaku fish prints I had found on-line followed by  a video I found on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_mG-Ka4mv8&index=2&list=PL_b6jD1gHL_azBufeLGnpTteMKhJZsjpk

This video is only three or four minutes long and it is age appropriate. 

Students then prepared their background paper by placing tissue paper squares on a 12" x 18" multi media paper and brushing water over them.  The children absolutely loved this process. Their hands turned colors and they were excited to see the colors bleed together. 

Another method students could use is painting the paper with liquid watercolors and then placing plastic wrap on top. You have to do this quickly before the paint dries to get the watery effect. 

This took one, 50 minute class period. 

The next class period the students printed their fish. You can find Gyotaku Fish printing replicas from Dick Blick. You can use black paint but I used ink and foam brayers. I like ink instead of paint because the foam brayers soak up the ink and it dries fast. Ink goes a long way. I used one, 12 ounce bottle for approximately 100 prints. 

After the students printed their fish, I trimmed the papers on the paper cutter and helped them glue it to a piece of construction paper.  Lastly they wrote their Japanese name beside their fish. I found a website where you can enter names and it will give you the pronunciation and the Japanese characters. It is called Japanese Translator. You can find it here http://japanesetranslator.co.uk/

 This background was the result of placing plastic wrap on the liquid watercolors. 

This is one of the kids favorite lessons. 

Dinosaur kindergarten art lesson

Dinosaur Kindergarten Art Lesson

I read the book "If the Dinosaurs Came Back" by Bernard Most to the class. 

                                                        We noticed that the illustrator only used black and white for his background and color for his dinosaur. We discussed if the dinosaurs came back what we would like them to help us with. We had lots of creative ideas!

Students traced their lines with a black sharpie and then drew a big dinosaur on  6" x 4" piece of

construction paper. I always remind the students when they are cutting out animals to pretend they are in a bubble. Many tears have been shed because a student has cut off a leg!

            This is a popular lesson on the web. I first saw it on Mrs.Knight's Smartest Artists blog (bloglovin')

Kandinsky kindergarten trees

Kandinsky kindergarten trees

Students were introduced to Wassily Kandinsky's Concentric Circles painting. We talked about his life and discussed his beautiful paintings. 

I taught students how to make a tree out of brown 9" x 12" construction paper which they then glued onto a 12" x 18" piece of yellow construction paper.  Students then could chose from a  variety of colored construction paper circles (large, medium and small) to cut out. I had copied these onto the copy machine.

 This project took one, 50 minute class period. 

I found this on the website www.artprojectsforkids. Great project for scissor skills! 

Pinch pots 1st grade

Pinch pots in 1st grade 

        My demonstration video.

Students created a pinch pot using self hardening clay. I don't have a kiln at my school so I find this clay works the best. It is still very fragile, but it's the best I can do without a kiln. I use Crayola's self hardening clay.

I first discussed with the students where clay comes from and shared the book "Children of Clay, A family of Pueblo Potters" by Rina Swentzell. This is a great book about a family's journey to find clay and to create art with it. It is a non fiction book with photographs. I don't know if it is still in print but I'm sure you could find a similar book.

Each student received a piece of wax paper and a small card to write their name and teacher code on to identify their clay pot later (since we aren't firing the clay)..At this level I find it is difficult for the students to write their name on the bottom of the pot so the card works out great. They just put their pot on top while it is drying. When they are ready to paint they can take a black permanent marker and write their name on the bottom.

The wax paper works great for clean up. Just throw it away when you're finished!

Since I chose to do this project in the winter, and my classroom is in the basement, it has taken a while for the pots to dry.

After they were dry, the students painted them with tempera paint.

After they were painted I sprayed them with acrylic gloss. Make sure to do this after school and with the windows opened!

This is the kids favorite art project!