Pattern | Please Don't Eat the Artwork

May 4, 2018
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Doodle Sculptures

A couple of months ago, I was trying to figure out a cool sculpture project to do with 5th grade. During undergrad my studio concentration was sculpture and while I enjoyed using power tools and learning how to weld, it really isn’t very applicable in and elementary school setting. I have to admit, I do not have the same passion for teaching sculpture as I do for creating it. So I really wanted to challenge myself to come up with a fun and engaging project for myself and my students. I realized that I had a ton of cardboard matboard leftover from our Artome art show earlier this year. Usually I cut it up and use it as stampers for the younger or as based for paper sculptures kids but I decided to play around and see what kind of more interesting form could be created. And voila! The idea for Doodle Sculptures was born.

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Students traced circles or created other geometric shapes onto the matboard. The neat thing about this matboard is that one side is white and one side is black. The kids cut out their shapes and used black and metallic sharpies to create some doodle designs. They had to have another shape and they cut slots into both to create a kind of X formation. I hot glued that onto a larger base shape and from there they built up their sculpture by cutting slots in each shape and carefully placing them together.

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There was no glue or tape used other than my hot glue dot which made materials really easy to manage. Here are a few of the completed projects. They don’t photograph very well because they are so interesting and “in the round” – every angle makes it look like a different piece of artwork!

That being said – I initially thought this project would be a home run but I ended up only doing it with one class. I think that the matboard was just too difficult for the students to cut through. Many of them complained that their hands hurt and it was a struggle getting all of the shapes cut out. I think that if I try this again in the future I would do this with art club or use something else to cut that is better than scissors but not as intense as an exact blade. Any ideas for me, art teachers? 🙂

I came up with another sculpture idea for the rest of my 5th grade classes so stay tuned to see how that one turns out, so far it’s great!

❤ Mrs. K

Alphabet Soup

This project is based on the one created by @2art.chambers for the Mini Matisse Blog.

Kindergartners practiced their alphabet for this scrumptious project. We began by reading Alpha Oops. Students traced a pie pan circle onto white paper and used oil pastel to draw their letters. Using a mixture of brown, yellow, and gold liquid water color, they painted their “soup”.

Next, the kiddos picked out a piece of construction paper and used crayons to create patterns. They cut and glued their circle along with a plastic spoon (that was spray-painted silver).

Great job kindergartners!

❤ Mrs. K

p.s. Why couldn’t the pirate learn the alphabet?

. . . . .

. . . .

. . .

. .

He was always lost at C

😛

May 1, 2018
by artwithmsk 1 Comment

Dream Catchers

This project is a repeat from last year but I just couldn’t resist posting the pictures from this year’s group of 5th graders. Check out our process here. We pretty much did exactly the same process this year except that for some reason it took about a month less time. Perhaps this year’s 5th grade hasn’t been struck by Senioritis quite yet?! Anyhow, here is their lovely artwork:

I truly love getting to know my students through their artwork and this project really helped to facilitate some interesting conversations about future goals and aspirations. There are certainly a lot of kids who are interested in sports, creating, and You-Tube and I am so proud of how they expressed their interests through visual arts. Great job 5th graders!

❤ Mrs. K

March 9, 2018
by artwithmsk 2 Comments

Squid Sculptures

One day I was playing around with some supplies. I drew with some Mr. Sketch Water Color markers and sprayed the paper to create a beautiful tie-dye effect. I folded and rolled the paper when it was dry and voila! – a project was born. I realized the folded paper looked kinda like a squid and thought it would be a fun sculpture project. This was originally intended for 4th grade only (to be honest, it was probably way to easy for them) but since I had a 5th & 3rd grade class that were ahead of everyone else I decided to do it with them too. After trying this out with 3rd, 4th, and 5th, I think it would probably be best for 2nd/3rd. Despite the lack of challenge, most of the kids really enjoyed making these.

On the first day, we create the beautiful paper. Students were encouraged to chose a color scheme and use patterns of lines. After they finished their tie-dye paper, they created patters on a piece of construction paper.

The second day, we used a lot of office supplies. Students got a kick out of this but really they need to learn how to properly use a stapler. They cut the construction paper into strips and carefully stapled it to the bottom of the watercolor paper.

Then they rolled the paper into a cylinder and stapled it at the top and bottom. They folded two sides in like gift wrap to create the top of the squid’s head. There was a lot of peer support for this step. Seeing the kids collaborate to help their classmates be successful was pretty cool!

Two holes were punched and a string was tied on to hang it up. Then students could use googly eyes or sharpies to create eyes and a face.

These were a big hit – they all turned out super cute!

❤ Mrs. K

May 16, 2017
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Flower Pot Resist Paintings

First graders did a fabulous job with these flower pot resist paintings! We began by drawing patterned vases. Then, students drew an arrangement of blossoms inside.

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Once they finished drawing, they traced over their lines with oil pastels and used water colors to paint their designs.

Most of these paintings were finished just in time for mother’s day. How lovely!

Nice work first graders!

❤ Ms. K

March 20, 2017
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Pattern Pets

This project is based on a lesson from Mini Matisse. My 1st and 3rd graders loved creating pattern pet sculptures! We began with a piece of 6×4 card stock paper, colored pencils, and permanent markers. Students drew patterns with the markers and colored with the colored pencils.

The next week, each student got a handy handout that showed how to draw different animal’s heads and tails. Students did not have to choose from the handout, they could create their own pattern pet too. The handout was useful to get them started though.

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Students used another little piece of card stock to draw, trace and color their pet’s head and tail. Then they cut and glued it to the body. They created a 3D pop up body by cutting an arch shape in the folded paper.

They are sooooooooo stinkin’ cute!!! All of the kids were really into this project and they turned out great. This will definitely be one that I come back to again and again — some 2nd graders even requested to make these sometime this year so you might see them again!

❤ 🙂

November 14, 2016
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Starburst Designs

The idea from this lesson came from Mrs. Knight’s Smartest Artists and from ilovethatteachingidea.com

I really love this project because it was pretty open-ended and provided a great opportunity for students to get their doodlin’ on. I have always loved to doodle and find that not only is it a meditative and relaxing process, it can also improve comprehension and creativity. Check out this fab TED Talk about doodling!

We began with a very tedious day of drawing line segments, points, and angles. When I used those terms there was almost a riot in the art room — “WHAT MS KATZIN? WE HAVE TO DO MATH TODAY!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!”

Muahahaha — little did they know it would lead to a beautiful design!

You start with a horizontal line anywhere between 3 and 5 inches. Label the line segment with “A” and “B”

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Next, draw a dot in the top middle.

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Connect the dot to A. . .

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And then to B. Then draw another dot.

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Then connect that dot to A and B.

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After the first couple of dots, there were some students who caught on really quickly. I had those students fill up the rest of their paper on their own. They needed 5-6 dots on the top and bottom of their AB segment. They had to make sure their design was balanced and filled up the space. For the kids who needed a more step by step approach, we went dot by dot together.

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Next, 4th graders got to use colorful permanent markets to trace over their lines. Because our last project was so restrictive with colors, I let students have free choice of the colors they used for their starburst design – the only criteria was to show contrast.

The last couple of days were spent filling in the shapes with patterns and doodly designs. Students used sharpies and colored pencils to fill up their starbursts. Then, they cut them out and glued to colorful construction paper.

This was a really neat project. It was one of those projects that empowers young artists because it had such a high success rate and was so visually pleasing. Great job 4th graders!

❤ Ms. K

October 3, 2016
by artwithmsk 2 Comments

Psychedelic Succulent Still Life Paintings

The idea and resources for this lesson came from Art With Mrs. Nguyen! When I first saw her blog post about this lesson I was so inspired that I made one myself with gouache and watercolors!

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I cannot emphasize enough how awesome this project is. It was a great way to kick off the school year with 5th graders because it gave them so many choices and opportunities to be expressive with colors, patterns, and composition. This one really involved a lot of choice and voice! We started off on the first day with a PowerPoint and handouts with examples of different succulents — both can be found in Mrs. Nguyen’s incredible TpT store!

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Students were encouraged to add visual texture to their succulents for detail and use expressive lines and shapes to create a pattern on their pot. They added 2 horizontal lines for a table or the ground. The final draft was on 9×12 paper and all the lines were of course traced with sharpies. 5th graders could paint the background however they wanted using watercolors. They used colored pencils to color in their cacti. I showed them how to create gradients using analogous colors and they did not have to make their plants realistic. Many kids chose vibrant rainbow colors or used color schemes for their favorite sports teams to give their artwork a personal twist.

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To get the table to look like realistic wood, we drew from observation by looking at the wooden tables in the art room. I also did a demonstration of how to make a galaxy design with watercolors and a few kids used salt to create lovely texture!

Awesome job 5th graders!!

❤ Ms. K

February 8, 2016
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Koinobori

Last semester I took a class at Georgia State University on Asian Art. I was so inspired to do some of the awesome projects with my kiddos!

The first day, I showed students examples of Koinobori wind sock fish. They are used in Japan during festivals to show members of the family. Student’s loved making the connection to weather, a unit they did for PBL.

We used templates to trace the fish shape on 12×18 paper. Students cut the shape out and unfolded it to create a symmetrical fish shape.

They created a pattern with lines and shapes and traced over it with sharpies.

The next day, 1st graders used red, yellow, and blue tempera cakes to mix colors and create a vibrant design.

The last day, students used stamps to print patterns on newsprint paper. They cut the patterns into strips and glued it to the tail.

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As they stamped, I rotated around the room and punched holes so they could tie a string to hang their fish. Then they glued the edges and put it all together.

The best part about this project (aside from the science, math, and social studies connections) is when the kids swing their fish and they catch in the wind the tails move really beautifully. There is something truly special about kinetic artwork and 1st graders were not only engaged and excited but really motivated for this project! Here are some of the fellas swingin’ their Koinoboris around:

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October 26, 2015
by artwithmsk 1 Comment

Anansi the Spider

There is a really amazing secondhand bookstore not too far from me that I like to visit every once in awhile. I have a serious problem in bookstores – I will spend hours in the children’s book section. Maybe it’s because I worked in the children’s section of a book store for a while. Maybe it’s because I have really happy memories of going to the library with my mom when I was little. I have always LOVED children’s books. (I would even love to write one some day!) Lately I have perused the books to find inspiration for art projects. When I found this book I just knew it would make a great project for 1st graders.

I didn’t want to reproduce the illustrations but I wanted to capture the spirit of the story and pictures. We began by creating textured painted paper. Students mixed 2 primary colors to create a secondary color and used a fork to add texture.The next week, we drew a web of expressive lines using while oil pastel on black paper. Students cut their paper into geometric shapes to create a spider body just like Anansi from the story.