Animal T-shirts

When I moved into my position six years ago, one of the first grade teachers approached me about painting T-shirts as an end-of-the-year activity. As a naive first-year teacher trying to please, I said yes. Oh, Rach.

Enough drama--it's not so bad. In fact, sometimes it's a lot of fun! The kids love it and use the T-shirts as a life-size yearbook, signing the backs of one another's shirts and wearing them as school winds down.

This year's Field Day theme was 'animals,' so I grabbed that opportunity and ran with it, turning T-shirt time into a full-fledged lesson on pattern...

White tigers!

Giraffes!

And Dalmatians, oh my!

I couldn't be there on Field Day (I was at the other building, womp womp) but word on the street is that the first graders showed up everyone else with their rockin' tees!

Eye Spy

Before she left us, my student teacher had the fourth graders whip through a quick two-day drawing/oil pastel resist/creepy eyeball extravaganza. Both Miss Caruso and I have a thing for drawing eyes, and I doubt we're alone. Something about the details, the symbolism, and the uniqueness of eyes is really quite captivating.

Granted, for all their beauty, there is something about touching my own eyes twice a day--contact lens wearers, high five!--that is absolutely disgusting, and when we have children, my husband will be responsible for any and all child eye problems, but whatever. They're fun to draw!

After a bit o' sketching, Miss Caruso had the kids draw final copies on small (6 x 9") white paper. Kiddos could choose a human eye or an animal eye.

Oil pastels were used to color, leaving any to-be-black spaces uncolored, while white spaces must be colored with white oil pastel.

India ink was smeared across part of or the entire paper and left to dry.

And as part of our last class together, the kiddos used large popsicle sticks to scratch away as much of the India ink as desired/possible.

 

Some of these look SUPER neato, while others just didn't quite get there (my own example was part of the latter group!). But the kids were really into it and had some good drawing exposure. And now they have some creepy eyeballs to scare their parents with! Win!

Mondrian Animals, Fingerpainting, and Edible Color Wheels

In second grade, we study the primary and secondary colors. Here's a trifecta of colorful projects to introduce the little ones to that wonderful wheel o' colors!

This Mondrian project is all over blogs and Pinterest (yet I originally found it in an old Arts & Activities, pre-Pinterest, if you can remember back that far, ha).

This is a porcupine--hehe! I love its expression!

The Mondrian project takes two 45-minute classes, as I give kiddos a day to sketch animals, really focusing on the basic shapes that comprise the animal's form. (Recently, when our sculptor friend visited, he shared the same strategy for drawing. Boom--validation!)

Next up, I whip out some fingerpaint so the kids can see the way the primaries mix. We watch this awesome video. On repeat. Again and again and again!

The icing on the cake cookies is our Edible Color Wheel project! Kiddos mix primary-colored frosting to make secondary colors, frost a few vanilla wafers, and assemble their own color wheel. It's the most delicious project of the year! As one kid put it, "this project is like a present to us." You and your dentist, buddy.

I wish I could show you all the frosting-covered faces that resulted from this last project. It's my favorite part!

Happy weekend, all!

Turtle power!

Following their exploration of all things Elmer, my first graders are continuing their study of pattern, using another animal as their inspiration. Turtle power, baby!

Do your kids insist that linear patterns are the only true patterns? So often, if my kids can't list it in a neat little row, they don't think it qualifies as a pattern. For instance, if they can say it in a clear order (red, white, blue, red, white, blue, red, white, blue), they're good; but when I show patterns like this:

... they get all bent outta shape. This project seems to help them understand pattern (as repetition) a bit better. We discuss what pattern is and locate examples throughout the room before moving onto animal patterns. Animal patterns like giraffe, zebra, and cheetah patterns really help them to see what constitutes a pattern, regardless of finite regularity.

I do let my little ones use black Sharpies for this (I <3 black Sharpies) to avoid smudging their turtle bodies. Here's what we do:

Draw an oval that almost fills the paper. Give that oval a triangular tail on one end and a head on the other. Your head needs a face!

How many legs does a turtle have? No, not 6, silly kid in the back. Yes, 4. Draw 'em.

Next, 2 vertical lines and 3 horizontal lines finish Mr. (or Mrs. or Ms. or Miss) Turtle's shell. Now put away those Sharpies--you're makin' me nervous, tiny children.

Fill every space with a different pattern, pressing firmly with those construction paper crayons. Leave white space--we need it for next time!

On the second day of our project, we cut out the turtles and paint them. I opted to use liquid watercolors for this project and I'm thrilled with the bright, bold results!

Such concentration!

As the kiddos finish their painting, I have them create a pattern around the edge of a black sheet of paper. This year I used 12" square paper, though in the past I've done the backgrounds in a variety of ways.

 

 

This year, emphasizing the quilt aspect of this project, I'm going to hang all of the black squares in a quilt-like pattern. (We talk about quilts beforehand.)

My memory fails me again, as I don't know where I found the original inspiration for this project. If this was your brainchild and you'd like to lay claim, let me know and I'll sing your praises!