Welcome to MMS Kindergarten Art Class 2018-9!

Hello! And welcome to the first kindergarten art class!

Today we had fun with our first project (yay!) and reviewed rules and expectations for art class.

Here is what we discussed for art class rules:
1) Have fun!
2) Listen and follow instruction
3) Respect your classmates and the art materials
4) Be kind (you may talk quietly while you work!)

Then we jumped right in to a fun lesson on line. Using strips of construction paper and glue, the kids explored vertical and horizontal line. Then they had fun adding their own personal touches with white paint. As you will see below, given pretty limited materials the pieces came out quite differently. This is wonderful and interesting! Some children were interested in exploring patterns with the color strips. Others were inspired to fill the page with color. Some created symmetrical pieces and some did not. Many were inspired simply by the look and feel of the paint. There were as many approaches to the work as there are children in the class!

We talked about how in art there is no "right" or "wrong". When you are the artist, you get to make the decisions!

I also introduced the kids to the idea of their sketchbooks. Today they designed their covers and did a few free drawings to break them in. The sketchbooks will be used throughout the year as a space for explorations and drawing lessons.

Please remember! If you have not yet sent in a smock for your child, please do so as soon as possible. Any adult size t-shirt that can fit over your child's everyday clothes is perfect. The kids love to get messy with materials -- but there is no reason that they need to bring the mess back to thier classrooms or home!

Mother's Day (the final touches) and Abstract Sketches

This week we began class by putting the final (sparkly) touches on our Mother's Day masterpieces. These beauties (sneak peeks pictured below) will be hanging for you special Mother's day tea next Friday! Please be sure to take them home with you!

While I was assisting the kids one by one with the addition of their sparkles, the rest of the class pursued a mini lesson in abstract art. We used handmade paper rulers to add 3-5 straight lines across the page in any way we pleased. Then we added 1-2 curved lines and a few circles. The kids were then free to add any details they pleased. Then they were to color all the shapes in with markers. (Unfortunately the markers are running out of ink!) Many kids found that although they began the piece without any intention, as they worked recognizable shapes, objects and scenes began to appear. What do YOU see?

 Orange for my mom, pink for my Nana.

 A dance floor with people dancing.

 A picnic

 A penguin

 A monster "X"

 A snake on the North Pole

A portal in outer space

Oil Resists Water - Adding Color

This week we completed our final project for the Mother's Day Tea! We began by adding warm colors using oil pastels. We finished the pieces by adding cool colors using watercolors. These pieces are a surprise so I am not posting the completed pieces as I usually do.

Instead I asked the kids to pick a favorite detail from their piece and we photographed it up close. Check them out below. Can you guess which one your child made?

Flower Prints and a Special Surprise

Today continued to explore printmaking. We worked with black paint on white watercolor paper. Using found objects (large empty packing tape rolls, toilet paper rolls and thin cardboard strips) we printed large flowers. We began with the largest circles, followed by smaller circles inside and finally added petals and details using the cardboard strips. It was a fun project (and messy). Next week we will be adding stems, leaves, and background. Additionally we will be returning to the concept of color temperature by focusing on warm for the flowers and cool for the background!

We also worked on a special project for the special kindergarten Mother's Day Tea in May!

Although I would LOVE to post pictures of these charming pieces, I can't! They are a surprise! You will have to wait until the big day to see them! I will tell you that we did a little instruction in the beginning of the project to make sure that everyone was confident in their spelling. But apart from that, the visual design of the pieces and the color choices are entirely personal. The results are beautiful and really speak to the creative style of each child, not to mention the love they have for their moms.

Cherry Trees in Bloom

It is finally starting to look and feel like spring! All over town the cherry trees are waking up and beginning to bloom. In honor of this beautiful (and sure) sign of spring, the children created their own cherry trees today!

 

We began by painting the background with large paintbrushes and a light blue paint. We covered the whole paper with blue so we could really show off the shape of the branches and pink cherry blossoms.

Next I provided the kids with brown paint and pre-cut squares of cardboard. The kids used the edge of the cardboard to print the trunk and the branches of the tree.

 Lastly, we mixed up a nice light pink paint and used bottle caps to print the cherry blossoms!

These trees are beautiful! Be sure to look at the variety of approaches the children had to understanding and expressing the idea of "tree". Amazing! These pieces are currently displayed in the mail hall at MMS. Stop by and see them if you can.

Enjoy SPRING!

Warm and Cool with Watercolors (and the butterflies take flight!)

 

 

Today we finished our symmetrical butterflies! The kids had a chance to color their butterflies with markers and add antennae if they choose. What amazed me was that without any prompting or reminders, the kids added color to their butterflies in a symmetrical manner with colors matching on each side. They also bent the antennae into various matching symmetrically sound shapes. Whether this was due to the lesson on symmetry or whether the kids have a natural awareness of the necessity and "rightness" of a symmetrical design when creating butterfly, I can't be sure! But either way the kids "knew" what they were doing and the butterflies came out beautifully!

These lovely butterflies are floating outside of the Bearville and Poohville classrooms!

 For the other half of class we did a casual exploration and review of warm and cool colors. The kids were supplied with some small pieces of watercolor paper, white oil pastels and watercolor paints. We spent some time as a class reviewing and discussing which colors are warm and cool. Some are quite easy and obvious (red, orange yellow are generally quite warm) but others like a red/purple or a yellow/green can be "in between" colors that can lean either way.

The kids used their oil pastels to paint some abstract designs and shapes onto their paper. Then they chose to paint with either warm or cool colors. After the kids mastered  "all cool" or "all warm" paintings, they were free to move on and explore painting with both warm and cool colors. It was exciting to watch how delighted they were as the white oil pastel designs appeared.