kindergarten art lesson Andy Warhol

Kindergarten art lesson Andy Warhol

                                  In this demonstration video the children are actually using paint sticks. I made the video during COVID and I was teaching on a cart. The kindergarten classrooms don't have sinks so this was a great alternative. 

This is a popular lesson that has been repeated several times on the internet. I'm not sure where the original idea came from. 

I had the children watch the video "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists, Andy Warhol". 

I also have several books for children on Andy Warhol. 

. The print below is from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. This is the print for our inspiration

http://www.warhol.org/uploadedImages/Warhol_Site/Warhol/Content/Warhol_Artwork/1998.1.24.jpg

After the video I had the children paint green grass on a 12" x 9" piece of black construction paper. Some students used paint brushes and others wanted to use q-tips. 

The following art class I provided various colors of 4" x 6" pieces of construction paper. They were allowed to pick four pieces of any color. 

The children folded the papers in half and made flowers. 

After they assembled their flowers

on their grass they took q-tips and painted little black dots for the middle of the flowers (pistil and stamen). 

1st grade Eric Carle butterflies

1st Grade Eric Carle Butterflies

1st graders reviewed the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. At our district, the kindergartners do a unit on butterflies so this is  a review of the story. We focused on the colors he used and how he created the collages. I found a great you tube video. It's called 40 Years of the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Beyond Books. It's only five minutes long and it is a perfect introduction to the lesson. 

I provided two pieces of multi media 9" x 12" pieces of paper for each student. They were told to put their  names on their papers before they were allowed to get started. 

I  then allowed the children to use any of the materials I set out to create their painted papers. 

They were told to do a paper with warm colors and then the other paper with cool colors. 

On the next day of class students folded their paper in half to make butterfly wings. They were to do this on both papers. I checked each one before they could cut (someone always draws it on the opened part of the paper fold!). All the wings turned out differently.

Students then colored their background papers and assembled their butterflies. They used a black oil pastel to make the bodies. My first graders love bingo daubers so I put them out again if they wanted to put more dots on their butterflies. Some students used them to make bugs and flowers. They could also use tissue paper to make any additional flowers or details on their butterflies. 

The kids loved this project. All the butterflies turned out so differently. 

kindergarten butterflies

Kindergarten butterfly art lesson 

At my district, the kindergartners do a big unit on butterflies in the spring. They watch caterpillars turn into butterflies and read many stories about them.
To begin the lesson, I showed the students many photos of real butterflies. We discussed the term "symmetry" and drew imaginary lines down the middle of their bodies to show symmetry. We then took a 9" x 12" piece of multi media paper and folded it like a card. We then opened  the cards  and traced the middle line with our fingers so we could remember that is where we would  be drawing half of a butterfly. Believe me, you have to do this part. Many children will not start the body on this line if you don't make them do this!

As I demonstrated, I drew a black line down the middle of my paper so they could see my line ( and reminding them not to draw a black line like mine). I then showed them how to draw half of a body, fold it over and press. Students needed to paint dark so  it would print out on the other side of their paper. After the body, I demonstrated how  to draw wings,  press, and then finally they put some lines or dots on the wings. They were told to not color in the butterfly because on the next art class they would be adding color. 

Since I have the kindergartners for 50 minutes, I showed a couple of videos from you tube. 

One is The butterfly Life Cycle (metamorphosis) Song by Mr. R's for teaching  and the other is Caterpillar to Butterfly by QuadSquad. This one shows real footage of the caterpillar changing into the chrysalis to a butterfly.
For the next art class we reviewed the term "symmetry" in art and reviewed symmetry in our butterfly photos.
I demonstrated how to color one shape on a butterfly and then students pointed to where I would have to color the next spot to create symmetry on my butterfly. I  showed them several examples before they could begin.

I taught this lesson in May so my kindergartners are almost 1st graders. I would not do this project at the beginning of the year with this level. Most of the students were done in a half hour so they were allowed to read the art books in our art library till class was over.

I found this idea from Cassie Stephens' blog.  http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com. I just changed it a bit to meet the needs of my kindergartners. Her lesson was for 2nd graders. 

 

Picasso self portraits 1st grade lesson

Picasso Cubism Self Portraits 1st grade

There are some great you tube videos on the life of Pablo Picasso. I found a couple that were age appropriate and only five minutes long. My favorite is the Pablo Picasso: Cubist art lesson. I also have children books on Picasso that I have in our classroom library for children to read.

 Yes, some of the children's books on Picasso are advanced for my 1st graders but  they can still enjoy looking at the pictures.

I like this painting by Picasso because it is of his daughter. http://www.pablopicasso.org/

After we watched the video and I showed them several examples of Picasso's portraits we got to work. Students drew an oval for a face and a neck. I reminded them to draw a neck that would be able to hold their heads up. This was a review of our self portraits we had drawn at the beginning of the year. The next step was to add hair.

Students were allowed to pick three different colors of construction paper squares for their eyes and nose. I instructed them on how to draw a profile and frontal eye which lead into  a discussion of pupils and irises. My daughter who is an optometry student  would be so proud!

The kids had so much making these!

  Make sure you send home a note with the parents explaining this project when the children bring these home! 

I found this idea from The Artsy Fartsy art room blog. Thanks Kelsey!