fun art stuff to do for kids?

[merrydeath]

^_____^ i just started (today) teaching art to k-2nd graders (huzah!!!). each class is 30 minutes and i was wondering if anyone had any cool suggestions for fun quick art lessons/crafts for kids. i learned my first lesson today- kids take time to do stuff, so i can probably break most of my lessons into 2 pieces. one for now and one for later. ie, cutting this week, gluing next week. ;)

[Craft Forums]

[Tomico Revilak]

Over the summer I volunteered as a teacher for the library art class for teenagers. I found that I, too, was never prepared for how long things took. Paper mache takes at least 3 sessions. You don't have much time with only 1/2 hour. I bought a book , 365 Things to Make and Do by Vivienne Bolt that seem like simple interesting projects bird feeders out of milk cartons, leaf pictures, dough baskets, bowling with 2 or 3 liter bottles, etc. not all the projects are for the very young, but there are a lot of fun ideas. Sorry I'm not much more helpful. but I do give you my sympathy.

[sushichickie]

how about getting them to do self portraits of themselves? get large butcher paper that comes in a roll and have them get in pairs. each student takes turns tracing the body outline of the other one. once they're traced out, they spend time finishing it up to look like themselves (how they look on the outside, or how they feel on the inside).

[merrydeath]

ha, i like the portrait idea. i think i actually did that in high school. and, it would probably take them a long time to finish. lol. i actually saw something really cool on someones website- she was teaching kindergardeners about michaelangelo and how he painted the cistine chapel on his back and so she had the kids hang paper under their tables and paint on their backs too! i was like, 'oooooooooooooooooh...' messy but fun! ^______________^ and the craft book sounds like something i would like to check out. i'll have to go to the bookstore this weekend! mmmmm...booooooooooks.
(oh yeah, please never mind my spelling errors...sorry!)

[Tomico Revilak]

Spelling is the bane of my exsistance, hence the quotes.
Tomico

[merrydeath]

lol...i used to be ok at it, but now...i have no idea what happened.

[sarabell]

ha, i like the portrait idea. i think i actually did that in high school. and, it would probably take them a long time to finish.

this project was one of my favorites that i remember doing in first grade. we used tempera paints, cut them out and stuffed them with.... something. newspaper? don't think it lasted more than two sessions. surely painting them made it go faster than using any other medium. if you have wall space, they could stick their portraits could make a really cool addition to a background mural (on paper or a drop cloth) that could be yet another project!

[girasole]

To go along with the body tracings I thought I'd share something that I did with 5/6 year olds several years ago.

This might be a good activity for the younger group or to draw more seasoned "portraiters" to certain details.

I took face shot of each of the kids with a digital camera. Then uploaded them into photoshop - converted them to black/white and enlarged them slightly to about 4x4 or 5x5, then printed them off. Then I cut out transparencies the same size as the prints and taped them over the photos and let the kids trace their images using different colored sharpies (this is why using black/white photos is important - it allows the color to show up). I also only put tape at the top which allowed them to lift up the transparency and see the image without the photo.

THEN as a follow up activity I taped transparency paper to a clear easel and had the children trace each other's faces! It was a riot and tons of fun. Some children took this a step further and put a transparency on a mirror and traced their image in the mirror.

Just a few thoughts.

Good luck!

[girasole]

Oh, I thought of something else. I also used to love to bring in natural materials and have the children each paint their own representation of various things - such as a vase of sunflowers. Then follow up by showing images of sunflowers by other artists such as Van Gogh and discussing color, etc.


Also, in honor of natural materials artist Andy Goldsworthy (and his book Midsummer Snowballs) we made several moderate size snowballs (rather than one giant one) and then saved them for a warmer day. On that day we took them outside and embellished them with all sorts of materials (leaves, sticks, flowers, anything they could find around them). Then I returned to photograph the snowballs every hour or so and then pasted the photos on a panel so that the children could see the evolution of their temporary sculpture as the snowball melted. We also looked at Goldsworthy's book and discussed his snowball. I was working with very young kids so I made up a story to go along with the pictures in the book to keep their interest a little longer.

girasole

[quornflour]

In High School I was an Art in Action docent for a kindergarten class. They would get a major work of art (in poster form) sent to their class for the month. I would come and we would do a project based on that piece of art. Sometimes I would use the assigned curriculum other times I would just make up my own.
One of the projects that I introduced to the class was based on Paul Klee’s Sinbad:

You will need:

• Precut 1” strips of construction paper
  Glue
  Whole construction paper sheets
  Crayons or colored markers
  Scissors

It is a 2 step project that could easily be done in two classes.

• 1. Bring precut strips of construction paper (older kids can cut it themselves – though this is easier when done with a paper cutter).
  2. Weave the strips into a sheet. Glue the ends to keep them from falling apart.
  3. Have the kids use construction paper to draw and cut out fish, a boat and a person.
  4. Glue to the woven background.

~Q