Art History Chairs

While my amazing kiddos are working on some wonderful new artwork for this year, I thought I would share some of their creations from last year that I did not get a chance to post!

Before the summer holidays we discovered all of these old classroom chairs underneath the steps inside our school building. They weren't being used, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for an art project! 

My PYP 5 class started this project by picking out a famous artist's name from a jar. When the artist's name was chosen, the students did a research activity on the library computers to find information about the artist and investigate their style of work.

The students used this information as inspiration for a chair design in their classroom sketchbooks. Once the design was drawn and colors planned, the students applied their ideas by drawing on the chairs.  

Their final chairs turned out wonderful and the kids had so much fun with this! The chairs are now displayed through out the school and the students are still talking about the artist they researched last year! It was a successful project and one they will always remember. 

Magic Sandbox & Clay Sculptures

I love sensory play, It makes me wish I could be four years old again. I suppose it's a good thing I am able to spend my days teaching, playing, and learning right along side my cheerful reception class!

The first few sessions of art with my new group of four year-olds has been so much fun. I am slowly introducing line, shape, and color while also teaching how to use materials and art tools appropriately.

On the first day of class we talked about line and took turns making up our own lines in my "Magic Sandbox." I poured salt over colored paper that had been glued down in a recycled box. When the students press their finger in the salt to "draw" the colors underneath show through. They absolutely love it!

 After playing in our "sandbox" the students worked on making and matching lines with pipe cleaners. It was a great activity for them to build up their fine motor skills.

We then put that bending, folding, and tying to good use by creating some sculptures! The students were given a small piece of clay that they rolled into a ball and stuck with as many kinds of lines as they could think of. They really enjoyed it and every student came up with something unique. 

                 

The next class session the clay was dry and the students painted their lovely open ended line sculptures. We also reviewed how to take care of paintbrushes and practiced a bit of color mixing. 

I am so proud of my little artists! 

Here are a few examples of their finished sculptures!

What is ART?

I enjoy doing a lot of online reading through fellow art teachers' blogs, Pinterest, and other art websites to gather new sources of inspiration. There are so many amazing ideas out there! I love the collaboration and sharing that goes on between educators through blogging and websites.

This bulletin board activity was one of those great ideas I stumbled upon while reading online. I thought this was a great way to start the first day of art class with sharing and discussion.

As my upper PYP students entered the room on the first day I asked them two questions: What do you think art is and why is art important? They took the questions very seriously and the answers they came up with truly made me smile.  

"....can solve problem like when you are boring." This cracked me up!

Many of my students are not native English speakers. Some felt comfortable writing full sentences while others wrote down specific words. For my students who are just beginning and really don't have the skills that writing in a new language requires, I had them write in their own language or draw a picture. The students were eager to share their answers and at the end of class we posted them all together on one of the art room bulletin boards. It was a successful activity for the first day! 

The Art of Line

It is so nice to start the school year with students who are eager to learn and jump right back into art class! My P1 students have been doing some wonderful work and I am happy to share what we have been up to!

During our first class together we reviewed the art element of line. Line was something we had discussed and created with last year in their Pre-K class, so it was familiar to them and a great starting point for lessons to come. We began by reviewing line on the white board and discussing how to take care of and properly use our paint brushes. The students then sat in groups of four or five at tables and practiced painting lines on a large piece of paper.

They enjoyed sharing the colors and took their time moving around their table to cover the space.

Once the paper was covered with beautiful lines, we played a wonderful game I found on a variety of different blogs and websites called "Walk the Line." I had taped two sets of "lines" on the floor of my classroom and had two groups of students line up behind each set. The students had to listen to which line I said to walk while doing an action/dance that had been made up. The whole class really loved it and all of us had so much fun while listening to music. 

    

Best game ever!!

During our next class we reviewed line again and began discussing sculpture. I had previously cut their large line paintings into smaller pieces and our line sculptures were born! 

I loved the discussions that took place while they created their free form line sculptures. Some students decided theirs was a water park or roller coaster ride, while others described crazy buildings, haunted houses, and cool playgrounds. 

So far we are having a blast learning together! I am so happy to be starting another great school year with such creative kiddos! Can't wait to share what we are up to next!