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Kindergarten Art Lessons

K   1   2   3   4   5


Line Variety Painting
Kindergarten students in Mrs. Brown's Art class talked about the different kinds of lines and the names that go along with them. They also learned the words horizontal, vertical, and diagonal.  The students were then guided through the process of creating image using oil pastels. Mrs. Brown gave them a type of line and a direction and the students had to draw that line, and then switch to a new color to get ready for the next line.  When they were finished drawing lines the students used brightly colored tempera paints to fill in between the lines.  The result was a classroom full of very colorful paintings!

MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 5.1
 



Shape Puppets

Students created hand puppets made from legal envelopes and cut pieces of paper. They reviewed the names of geometric shapes and used those shapes to create the puppets. At the end they added detail to their puppet with crayon or marker.

MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.4, 2.5, 3.3, 5.1
 



Magical Water Mixing & Tissue Paper Collage Leaf
Students reviewed the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.  They experimented with color mixing by overlapping colored tissue paper and predicting which new colors would be created!  After their tissue paper collages dried, the students worked in pairs to trace the shape of a leaf and cut it out.  They discussed the parts of a leaf and drew the veins.  At the end we were left with a collection of beautiful and colorful fall leaves!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1, 10.1
 



 
Harvest Corn
Students talked about the first Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans.  Corn was given to the Pilgrims by the Native Americans and it was one of the first crops that the Pilgrims grew in America.  The kindergarteners were shown examples of multicolored harvest corn and they described all of the colors that they saw.  They practiced their cutting and gluing skills when they created their own harvest corn collages. When all the artwork is put together it becomes giant field of Kindergarten Corn!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 5.1, 8.1, 10.1
 



Handpainting
Students traced the outline of their hand with oil pastel. They then reviewed the three primary colors and used those colors to paint the shapes inside their hand. They chose their "favorite" secondary color to paint the background. this project helps the students to practice their fine motor skills, and experiment more with paint.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 5.1



Pumpkin Patch
Students practiced their cutting and gluing skills by creating several pumpkins and making creative "carvings" in them using color construction paper.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.4, 3.2, 5.1
 




Clay Pinch Pots
Students used clay for the first time to create small clay pinch pots. They started with a ball of clay and made a hole using their thumb. Then they pinched around the outside edge to shape their pot. After they were dried and fired the students painted them with tempera cakes.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 5.1, 5.2
 



Self Portraits
Students in all grades at Hemenway School create Self Portraits in Mrs. Brown's art class.  Self Portraits are a great drawing project because it can teach students to draw beyond just what they think they see... but to draw what is really there.  All students were given a mirror to observe their facial features and look for small details.  As children grow older they progress through the 5 stages of artistic development (named by Viktor Lowenfeld).  Kindergarteners are usually somewhere between the "Scribble Stage" and the "Pre-schematic Stage".  As the students grow older they work their way through the artistic stages of "Schematic", "Dawning-Realism" and "Pseudo Realistic."  Though it can sometimes be tempting, it is very important not to rush young children through the early stages of artistic development.  Students in Grade K, 1 and 2 are full of creativity, and it is important to let students take their time so they can nurture their creative development. There is plenty of time in grades 3 and above to begin teaching them about the more technical aspects of drawing.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.2
 



Name Design
Students practiced writing their name and then filled in the space around their name using a variety of lines and shapes.  Mrs. Brown challenged the students to fill in their whole paper.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.2, 5.1
   



Snowman Collage
Students practiced their cutting and gluing skills when creating this seasonal picture of a snowman. They started by using the words "Small, medium and large" to cut out three circles. Then they used their extra paper to make the snowflakes. They added details to their snowman by using only cut paper, no markers or crayons were used.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.4, 3.2, 5.1
 



Winter Mittens
Students used mitten tracers to trace the shape of a mitten onto the colored paper of their choice. They were then asked to design a mitten using shapes and lines. They used construction paper crayons to add bright colors to their project.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.3, 5.1



Crazy Line Drawing
Students drew one lone loopy and crazy line that covered most of their paper. They then filled in the shapes with as many colors, shapes and patterns that they could think of. This project gives students a chance to review key art vocabulary, and also a chance to practice their gross and fine motorskills.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.3, 5.1



Fairy Tale Drawings
Students imagines their favorite fairy tale or childrens story and they drew a picture of the story. Simple drawing lessons are important during the beginning stages of artistic development because they give children a chance to practice using materials and it allows them to make different kinds of marks.  As students grow older they will fine-tune their drawing technique.
MACF: 1.1, 1,2 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 5.2



Rainbow Collage
Students reviewed the primary and the secondary colors. Then they drew a large rainbow and practiced their cutting skills by collage pieces of colored paper along each on of the stripes.  We discussed the significance of why the colors were arranged in this order and the students discovered that the secondary color found between each primary color is the color you get when you mix those two primary colors!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 3.1, 5.1



When I grow up I want to be a...
In this project students were asked to think about what they want to be when they grow up. They then drew of a picture of themselves in the future using their imaginations.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 3.3



Martin Luther King Jr. ~ The Crayon Box that Talked
The students learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the important message that he shared with America.  They talked about the importance of accepting the differences of other people and looking past outward appearances.  They read the book, “The Crayon Box That Talked”, about a box of crayons that is not getting along because the colors do not like each other. In the end the crayons learn that all the colors are important and they all get along.  After reading this story and talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. the students each made their own crayon and together they made a box full of lots of different colors!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 3.3, 4.2, 8.3, 10.1
 



Abstract Instruction
Students were given simple commands to follow such as "Draw three straight lines" or "Draw two circles". They used those prompts to create an abstract picture. When we were done we looked at all the pictures in the room and were surprised to see that even though they were given the same instructions all the pictures looked different, and that was okay!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 3.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.3
 



Where the Wild Things Are
Students read the story "Where the Wild Things Are" and then created their own "Wild Thing" using construction paper and crayons. They were encouraged to be creative and possibly combine parts from different animals. They were also instructed to create friendly "Wild Things" like the ones in the story.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.3, 6.1, 7.1, 8.3
 



Positive and Negative Valentine Hearts
Students created Valentine pictures using two different colors of construction paper, and markers. They cut out a heart shape from one paper, creating a "negative shape" and used the cut out to form a "positive shape" on the other half of the paper.  We reviewed the new vocabulary and then students decorated their Valentines in way they chose.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 3.2, 5.1, 8.3



African Plate Necklaces
Women from many African tribes will adorn themselves with beautiful necklaces made out of metal or natural materials.  The students in kindergarten brainstormed different things that they could make from an ordinary paper plate.  They were encouraged to think creatively. When they came up with necklaces they were shown photos of necklaces from different cultures.  They created their necklaces using mixed media materials from paints, to feathers, to beads. It just goes to show that an ordinary paper plate can become a gorgeous work of wearable art!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4. 2.5, 2.6, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 6.2, 7.1, 8.2, 8.3, 10.1



Owl Collage
Students reviewed the word "collage" and what it meant before beginning their talk about their new project, creating an Owl Collage. They learned the word "nocturnal" and discussed why we might make our collages on a black paper background. We then drew the outline of an owl and began filling in the area with torn paper to create the owls body. After we completed that we added details like the eyes and beak. This project gave the students more practice with ripping, cutting, and gluing.
MACF: 1.1, 1,2 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 5.2



Leprechaun Collage
This project gives students another chance to try collage, but this time we incorporate new materials like glitter and yarn. Students create a leprechaun using cut paper and glue. They add small details like real yarn for the beard and glitter in a few places to make it look like real gold. Naturally, this project takes place around St. Patricks Day.
MACF: 1.1, 1,2 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 5.2



Classmate Portraits
For this project students drew a small portrait of every person in their class. We then exchanged portraits so every student got 24 pictures of themselves back, all drawn by a different classmate.  The above example is a collage of the pictures given to me by a class of Kindergarten students.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1



Butterfly Wings
Students created a drawing of a butterfly, and they also learned about mirror symmetry.  This project gave students the opportunity to explore the technique of using crayon and watercolor resist.  
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 5.1




Torn Paper Portraits
This lesson was developed to teach children about the sometimes fun and expressive nature of art.  Each student used torn paper, and wacky colors to create a portrait. The portrait could be real or imaginary. The only rules were... no scissors! The pictures came out very creative and fun!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6, 3.2, 3.3, 5.1, 5.2



Georgia O'Keefe Flowers
Students examined the life and artwork of American artist Georgia O'Keeffe. They created paintings of flowers using crayons and watercolor paint. They were told to think about using bright colors and large flowers to create compositions similar to the artwork of O'Keeffe. They also learned the anatomy of a flower.
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6, 3.1, 4.3, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 9.1, 10.1



Pattern Snake
This is a fun project that gives students a chance to get back to drawing. They create a curled up snake and fill the body with many colors, lines and patterns. When they are done coloring it in they can cut out the snake and let it hang down unraveling itself!
MACF: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.2, 3.3, 5.1

K   1   2   3   4   5