Tag Archives: kindergarten

Too Much Glue! Collage for Kindergarten

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too much glue collage for kindergarten

Here is a fun and easy kindergarten collage project based on the new book, Too Much Glue.
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Too Much Glue by Matt LeFebre, 2013.

 

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.

glue sponge shared at a table

Kindergarten results:

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

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

too much glue collage

(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’.

Too Much Glue! Stick Puppets for Kindergarten and First Grade

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I received an advance copy of a new book, Too Much Glue. It’s a story absolutely perfect for kindergarten and first grade for the first days of art class – especially when you are teaching them how to use glue!

The story is about a boy named Matty who ignores his art teacher’s rules for white glue – ‘raindrops, not puddles’ – and uses so much glue that he glues himself to the table. His friends try to help, but they make the problem worse. By the middle of the book Matty is still trapped. The bell is about to ring! The carpool is waiting! How will Matty get out of this mess?

Too Much Glue by Matt LeFebre, 2013.

My kindergarten stick puppet lesson is a great tie-in project for this book. We used white glue, cardboard, Sharpies, popsicle sticks and paper and yarn scraps. Kinders LOVE to make art they can play with! Click here to see all the instructions.

'Too Much Glue' Stick Puppets

This year we added ‘clothing’ with the amazing glue sponge. Click here.to learn how to make your own!

the glue sponge 1

Too Much Glue by Jason LeFebvre and Zac Retz will be available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble by December, 2013.

Enjoy!

The Glue Sponge: Great for Paper Collage

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the glue sponge 1

If you like to do collage projects with young students, this post is for you. I just discovered the glue sponge! It is perfect for gluing small pieces of paper. It is much easier and neater than glue bottles and glue sticks, especially for kindergarten and first grade.

To make your own glue sponge, click here. You’ll need a lidded plastic container, sponge, white glue, and a spray bottle of water. It was a great way to use my half-empty glue bottles leftover from last year. We made one glue sponge per table, to be shared by four students.

glue sponge shared at a table

Kinders collaged origami paper, construction paper and copy paper. They loved it. The papers dried smooth and flat. Nothing fell off!

Benefits

  • much less messy than white glue in the bottle
  • easier than glue sticks
  • no waste
  • easy to share
  • easy to store

Just mist with water before closing, and turn sponge occasionally. Tip: don’t saturate with water – these work best when tacky.

Take a look at the kindergarten paper sculpture in this post from Art for 1170. The glue sponge is good for paper sculpture too!

We’ll still use glue sticks for larger pieces of paper, and glue bottles for beads and such. For collage with small pieces of paper, I’m sticking with the glue sponge 🙂

Enjoy!

Best Art Projects of the Year: Kindergarten

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Last year I did 11 super-successful art projects with the kindergarteners. It feels so good when every kid in the class is happy with their artwork!

Here are the best projects of the year for Kindergarten – our greatest hits of 2012-13 – organized by season.

best projects of the year 2 primary grades

Fall/Winter:

best projects of the year primary grades

Spring

kindergarten stick puppets

I did the following projects from my favorite art education blogs.  I highly recommend:

Note which season we completed the art projects.  Kindergarteners develop so much during the school year. I would never do my spring projects the first weeks of school! Most kids just aren’t ready yet. Be patient – they will be by late spring.
Have a great school year!
Enjoy!

Symmetric Butterflies

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symmetric butterflies pinable

Here is a nice butterfly watercolor resist project that teaches symmetry. It was very popular with the kindergarteners and first graders.

Materials:

  • white paper, 9″x12″
  • oil pastels in bright or dark colors (NO yellow, light pink, light blue, white, etc.)
  • rubbing tool – optional (I use the flat side of a beginner pencil)
  • watercolors
  • Optional: scissors, glue stick and colored paper for mounting

Discuss symmetry

Introduce symmetry. We talk about how our faces are symmetric. Then we look at butterflies and identify the line of symmetry.

Create 1/2 butterflies:

Students fold paper in half ‘the short way’ (aka hamburger fold). Do not unfold paper. Using oil pastel, direct students to create a series of dots on ONE folded half. The students then connect the dots to make a 1/2 butterfly.

Now ask students to trace their lines two more times using that same oil pastel. Students should press hard – oil pastel lines should be thick and dark.

Students can add some simple decorations such as shapes and lines to their 1/2 butterflies. Remember, each decoration must be traced a total of three times.

Ready to rub:

Now students close up their papers so the color is on the inside of their ‘books’. Time to rub HARD. I have students stand up so they can put their whole bodies into it! We use the flat side of a beginner pencil for this. You could use the flat side of a popsicle stick as well.

symmetric butterfly instructions

Now open the ‘book’. Students should see a ‘ghost’ image (faint lines) opposite their oil pastel drawing. You will hear oohs and aahs of amazement!

About 75% see the ghost image the first time they try this. If the oil pastel didn’t transfer, it means a) the students didn’t retrace their lines hard enough and/or 3)the students didn’t rub hard enough. I ask neighbors to help their friends out at this point. On their second try, the remaining students all succeeded.

The next step is to retrace the ghost lines with that same color of oil pastel.

Paint

Finally, paint the butterflies with watercolor. Encourage students to keep their butterflies symmetric – match up the paint colors on the right and left sides of the line of symmetry.

Kindergarten and first grade results

symmetric butterflies before and after

Options for finishing the project: cut out the butterflies, mount on construction paper. Or just trim and stick onto your window or bulletin board.

Enjoy!

 

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