Van Gogh Sunflower mural kindergarten art lesson

Van Gogh sunflower Mural

I was so excited to get to go to Amsterdam over spring break. Of course one of the first things I did was visit the Van Gogh museum! The sunflower painting is amazing! I wish the museum would let visitors take  photos. They did have have this mural where you could have your picture taken. Not the same!

Yes, it was cold in April (thus why I still have my coat on!).
Seeing the sunflower painting made me want to teach my students about Vincent's sunflowers.
I found a  great lesson on the blog by Mr. Giannetto. Here is the link http://youngschoolart.blogspot.com/2014/10/1st-grade-sunflowers-in-progress.html. I just changed it a little.
I first read the book "Camille and the Sunflowers" by Laurence Anholt.

 I showed the students several examples of  his sunflower paintings and then we set to work.

I put paint on paper plates for each table and then we painted a sunflower together on brown construction paper. 

When they were dry, students cut them out and glued them to the vase I had drawn previously. They loved this lesson and they turned out beautifully! 

Wayne Thiebaud model magic lollipops kindergarten art lesson

Wayne Thiebaud model magic lollipops

I've seen this lesson many times on the internet. I actually used http://artinklings.blogspot.com/2015/12/wayne-thiebaud-inspired-lollipops.html idea for  my kindergarteners. 

I showed the students part of the interview of Wayne Thiebaud from CBS morning on Youtube. I think it actually gets the students excited about the project if you can find photographs and videos of the artists working. 

I then demonstrated how to roll the model magic into a ball and then make it into a coil.

 After the students rolled the ball into a coil they swirled it around to make the lollipop. 

I then pushed a craft stick into their lollipop. From my experience, if I had them push it in, they would become frustrated and ruin their lollipop. This project only took about twenty minutes for the lecture and the art making time. 

On the next art day, students painted their lollipops with watercolors. 

Kindergarten Wallpaper flower collages

Kindergarten Wallpaper Flower Collages

It is March and my kindergarteners are getting so much better in their fine motor skills. I  actually got the idea for this lesson by looking at the blog http://marymaking.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-16T19:02:00-07:00&max-results=7.  This lesson took three, fifty minute class periods. 

On the first day students painted the stems with green and yellow paint onto a piece of black 12" x 18" construction paper. 

On the second and third day, students traced circles onto the back of the wallpaper squares(I had cut before) and made flowers. They used various lids and cups for patterns.  Students also added butterflies, caterpillars and bugs to the collages. 

They turned out really neat. 

1st grade collage kandinsky trees

1st Grade Collage Kandinsky Trees

Here is another take on Kandinsky's Concentric Circles. This is an idea I found from the blog on http://drawthelineat.blogspot.com/2012/11/kandinsky-trees.html#comment-form.

Students love the story of when Kandinsky was a child. I have taught Kandinsky before this lesson so my students were familiar with his story. I'm referring to the book " The Noisy Paint Box" by Barb Rosenstock. 

On day one students used tempera paint and painted their sky and ground. I gave each group of students a paper plate with the paint they needed. 

Students used blue, purple and white for the sky. 

 On the bottom, students used green and yellow to make the grass.

 On day two, students used various sizes of lids and stamped circles on the sky and on the ground. 

On day three students made a tree from black construction paper. 1st graders then traced circles from various lids and used construction paper crayons to decorate them. 

This project was a lot of work, but they turned out nicely. Students loved the results. 

Jim Dine oil pastel watercolor paintings 1st grade

Jim Dine oil pastel watercolor resist painting

My demonstration video 

I don't remember where I saw this original idea. I've been doing it for years.  If you know please let me know. 

I introduced the heart paintings created by Jim Dine. We discussed his many hearts and I explained to the children that he is from Cincinnati Ohio.  Students are excited to hear this since we are only about thirty miles from the city. 

I gave students a 3 1/2" x 4" square piece of construction paper and taught them how to make a heart. 

Students then folded their 12" x 18" multi media paper into six boxes and traced their hearts in the centers. 

Students took oil pastels and created various designs in each heart. We discussed the many options such as using warm and color colors and patterns. 

Don't forget to blend!

The next class students painting watercolors in each box.

 I love these. This project took two, fifty minute classes.