Getting Symmetrical

In honor of the first day of spring the kindergartners made a kaleidoscope of butterflies!

We began by taking a moment to talk about what it means for something to be symmetrical (one side being a mirror image of the other). Many things in nature are symmetrical, including butterflies!

Then the kids got out their materials (multi colored construction paper, scissors, pencils and white paint in elmers glue bottles) and began.

We folded paper in half, traced a half butterfly stencil and then cut the butterfly out. As the kids became more confident with the shapes of the butterflies and arranging the center line along the fold, they began drawing their own butterflies freehand.

After that the kids opened up their elmer's glue bottles (full with white washable paint) and squeezed lines and dots onto one half of the open butterfly. Then the butterfly was refolded, pressed and voila! When it was opened again, there was a beautiful, symmetrical butterfly with a surprising design.

This project is particularly fun because it contains such a strong element of surprise. No matter how we plan or what we try to make, when the butterfly is folded and pressed the qualities of the paint (how much was applied and where) takes on a life of it's own. Opening each one of these butterflies was a treat.

Here are a few particularly nice examples!

Ashley also had a chance to finish her "underwater scene" from last week. Great job, Ashley!

Under the Sea!

Today we finished our underwater scenes!

 After cutting out all the fish that they printed last week, the kids arranged their fish in their underwater scenes.

 Then they had a chance to add some sparkle to their fishes scales using a shiny bronze paint.

The results are amazing! If you have a chance to stop by school and see them in person, please do! They are framed and hanging in the main hall of MMS.

Printing Fish!

Today we worked on our multi-media underwater scenes and printed our fish!

The kids took turns rolling there plates with paint and carefully pressing pre-cut construction paper rectangles onto the plates.When we peeled the paper off the fish appeared! Look below to see what happened!

When they weren't printing with me, the kids had pipe cleaners, construction paper and tissue paper to glue to their underwater scenes to make plant life and waves. Many children also took the time too add new animal life with markers.

Next week, we will cut out the fish and glue them to the scenes! Take a look below! Beautiful!

All the Fish in the Sea - Multi Media

Following up on the success we had last week with our watercolor paintings of spring, today we began a multi media project called “All the Fish in the Sea”. This two class project involves: drawing, painting, printing and collage!

We began our morning with a quick lesson on drawing fish. The kids practiced in their sketchbooks. When they felt confident they could draw their fish, they moved on to exploring other under sea animals (jellyfish, starfish and narwhals (!) just to name a few. Then we moved on to making our printing plates. These are small, thin styrofoam boards. The kids drew their fish on the boards, making sure to press hard enough so that their lines made an indent in the foam.

Then we got out large sheets of white paper to create our undersea worlds. Beginning with oil pastels the kids added whatever details and shapes appealed to then. Many added bubbles and swirls. Some added undersea plant life and others added waves. Then we got out the watercolors and did our best to fill the whole page with the colors of water.

You can see the watercolor work below!

Next week will will have a messy class printing out fish. We will also use green tissue paper to create undersea plant life. When the fish are dry we will cut them out and glue them onto our pieces! Keep an eye out for this exciting work next week!

What spring looks like to me....

What an amazingly lovely spring (?) day!

The kids spent class working on drawing and then painting pictures of their visions of spring. We worked together on the drawings for a bit in the beginning of class, practicing drawing different flowers and chatting about our ideas and memories of spring. As the kids became absorbed in their work, they added so many interesting and beautiful little details:bees, snails, trees, clouds, rain, shining sun, birds and butterflies! Inspiration passed back and forth between the kids with ease. Here are a few drawing process pictures for you.

 And here are the final pieces! Beautiful colors and brushwork!

Fly, Eagles, Fly!

In honor of our Superbowl winning Philadelphia Eagles, we painted eagles in flight!

The kids followed along with step by step instructions to draw their birds in flight and then we took the time to carefully paint our eagles. Once the kids felt good about how they had drawn their eagles, many of them went on independently to add other details. Keep an eye out for trees, nests and eggs, all pure kid inspiration.  Here are a few photos of the eagles "in process".

Both the drawing and painting were challenging because of the fine motor control involved but the kids managed beautifully. These eagles show so much spirit and personality. And the kids certainly were enthusiastic about the Eagles big win!