Colorful Chameleons

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Rina Vinetz

Kids love chameleons! They change color almost like magic. Our second graders just finished a very successful watercolor chameleon project.

Materials:

chameleon books or reference photos
watercolor paper
pencils and erasers
Sharpies
watercolor pencils (we used the pre-sharpened Crayola watercolor colored pencils)
pan watercolors

Day 1: Draw your chameleon

We watched the ‘Super Chameleon’ video on YouTube. The kids were amazed to see the chameleon change colors over and over. Then we took a close look at the chameleon books from our school’s media center. Next it was on to a directed draw. I modeled the basic contour of the chameleon’s head, body, tail and legs. Kids started in pencil, then outlined in Sharpie. They were free to use Sharpie to add their own details (stripes, patterns, dots, spikes) based on their reference photos.

Day 2: Color your chameleon

Kids used watercolor pencils dipped in water to color in the chameleons. The watercolor pencils were great for coloring in all the stripes and little spaces. The colors turned out really vibrant! The final step was to paint the background a single color using pan watercolors.

I encouraged everyone to stick to an analogous color scheme for their chameleons. Some kids did, some didn’t, but they all turned out beautiful. After all, a chameleon can be any color.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMT1FLzEn9I

We tried a similar chameleon project last year using Crayola markers: click here to see more results.

Overall this was a popular, super successful project with minimal prep and clean up. It was my first watercolor pencil project, but it won’t be my last.

Enjoy!

Here are two of the books we used for our lesson

Seurat Pointillist Food

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Rina Vinetz

Fourth grade just finished their Seurat pointillism art project. Our students used pan watercolors, Q-tips and markers to make pointillist food! The project was inspired by this project by Jessica Young at Miss Young’s Artroom.

Materials:

pan watercolors
Q-tips
colored markers (we used Crayola and Sharpie)
pencil/eraser
white paper, 9″x12″
reference photos (I found dessert images on Pinterest)
loups or magnifying glasses
pointillist note cards (like these – available at walmart.com and galison.com) or books

Day 1: Learn about pointillism

I passed out pointillist notecards and magnifying loups (borrowed from our science lab). It was a lot of fun to see the dots up close.

Next we watched the first half of an AMAZING video: ‘Get to the Point’ – Georges Seurat and Pointillism by Artrageous with Nate.

Finally we completed a color mixing worksheet, using marker dots to make the secondary colors.

Homemade pointillist worksheet

Day 2: Create dots with Q-tip or marker

Students selected a food reference photo, then lightly sketched their basic food shapes on paper. They had the option of using Q-tip or marker to dot their papers.

(warning: we discovered you can’t erase pencil lines after they’ve been painted with pan watercolor. Remind kids to draw lightly!)

Day 3: Erase lines, add more dots

Students erased their pencil lines from last week, then added MORE DOTS! Some students added a background – a couple even added pointillist borders.

Fourth grade results:

This was a VERY popular and successful project! I will definitely repeat. Are looking for a group pointillism project? Please check out my earlier post for a Seurat mural.

Here’s the cool pointillism video by Artrageous with Nate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfALDoLHqU0

This is the first project of our food art series, in honor of the FEAST! exhibit at San Diego’s New Children’s Museum. This year we will be making food art projects at each grade level.

Do you have a favorite food art project?

No-Mess Kindergarten Line Art

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Rina Vinetz

Are you looking for a nice line art project for your kindergarteners? Check out this project from Marcia Beckett at Art is Basic.

It is a great project. On the first day, our students watched a brief video about different kinds of lines. Then they used black marker to make a variety of lines on their papers.

On day 2, the students colored in and around their lines with Crayola markers. We had a few minutes to spare at the end of class, so we did a ‘line hunt’ in the classroom. The kids were delighted to find the horizontal lines everywhere, including the wires of my drying rack and my window blinds!

Here is my kindergarten line movie playlist on YouTube. (note: two of these movies are silent!)

Enjoy!

Don’t Let the Pigeon….

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Rina Vinetz

Our first graders love Mo Willem’s books Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and The Pigeon Wants a Puppy. In both books, the pigeon asks repeatedly for something he’s too young to handle. Of course little kids like this book – it’s the story of their lives!

After reading the stories, we brainstormed all the things the pigeon should NOT do. Every idea was hilarious – the pigeon shouldn’t do karate, use the oven, use the iPad, feed the beta fish or drive Santa’s sleigh.

First graders did a directed draw of the pigeon, focusing on simple shapes. On a separate piece of copy paper, then drew a picture of the pigeon acting out those bad choices.

Materials:

9″x12″ gray construction paper
yellow and white Construction Paper Crayons
Sharpie
12″x18″ construction paper for background
scissors
glue sticks
copy paper, 8.5″x11″
crayons or markers

Day 1: Read books. Discuss the pigeon. Pass out copy paper. Use your crayons or markers to draw something the pigeon should not be doing.

Day 2: Draw pigeon on gray construction paper using Sharpie and construction paper crayons.

Now cut out the pigeon. Glue the pigeon and drawing to a large piece of colored construction paper. Use Sharpie to draw legs on the paper.

First grade results:

Don’t let the pigeon use the pizza app on the iPad.

Don't let the pigeon go to halloween ('Aah! a ghost!').

Don’t let the pigeon go to halloween (‘Aaa! a ghost!’).

Don't let the pigeon be your mom or he will make you do silly things.

Don’t let the pigeon be your mom or she will make you do silly things.

Don’t let the pigeon take care of a beta fish or it will die.

This project was a hit with my students last year – click here to see more examples.

Enjoy!

Too Much Glue! Collage for Kindergarten

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Rina Vinetz

Here is a fun and easy kindergarten collage project based on the new book, Too Much Glue.
.

Materials:

construction paper 12″x18″
scissors
glue sticks
construction paper crayons
homemade glue sponges, one per table
colored paper scraps (we used origami paper scraps)
photocopies of ‘glue suit’ clothing template (click here for pdf)

Day 1: Read book, begin portrait

Read the story. Pass out paper clothing. Students cut out the paper suit and use glue stick to glue it in the center of the construction paper (this is a great opportunity to assess your students cutting skills).

Use construction paper crayons to make face, hair, hands and feet.

Day 2: Create collage clothing

In the story, Matty used so much glue that everything stuck to him. For our project, we collaged our paper clothes with pieces of colored paper. Kindergarteners had success using our new glue sponges for collage.

Kindergarten results:

Kindergarteners use paper scraps, template and glue sponge to make collage portraits. Allow two 40 minute classes.

(You know what? I think that free downloadable glue suit template would be a great start for a scarecrow collage project)

Enjoy!

Note: I received an advance copy of ‘Too Much Glue’.

K – 6 Art

Art lessons for kids ages 5-12 – fresh from the art room!

Category Archives: Lesson plans

Colorful Chameleons

Materials:

Day 1: Draw your chameleon

Day 2: Color your chameleon

Seurat Pointillist Food

Materials:

Day 1: Learn about pointillism

Day 2: Create dots with Q-tip or marker

Day 3: Erase lines, add more dots

Fourth grade results:

No-Mess Kindergarten Line Art

Don’t Let the Pigeon….

Materials:

First grade results:

Too Much Glue! Collage for Kindergarten

Materials:

Day 1: Read book, begin portrait

Day 2: Create collage clothing