Spring Chickens

First graders had so much fun making their "spring chickens." First they created colorful paper using tissue paper prints. They saved the tissue and used it again for the fluffy feathers. They practiced drawing and cutting shapes to create the eyes, beak, wings, legs, and feet for their birds.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I love the art of Eric Carle. I introduced his style to the Kindergartners with this fun and easy project. On the first day they used texture plates and oil pastel to fill their papers. Then they painted over the textures they created with watercolors. For the next class period, they cut out all of the parts of the caterpillar and assembled them!

Marc Chagall

Second graders recently studied the work of Marc Chagall. His paintings often included farm animals like cows, goats, and roosters, as well as memories of life in his village. We began by mixing tints and shades of blue for the background, drew many houses, and added silly goats playing violins with painted paper. Students really enjoyed the dream-like paintings of Chagall!

The Starry Night

Fourth graders just studied Vincent Van Gogh! They looked very closely at The Starry Night and created their own versions using oil pastels to blend colors!

Egyptian Portraits

Fourth graders have been learning all about Ancient Egypt in Art class. After reading The Egyptian Cinderella and looking at examples of Ancient Egyptian art, fourth graders drew their Egyptian portraits with oil pastel and created a fancy border with metallic paints.

Elmer's Day Parade

First graders just love Elmer! We read just about every "Elmer" book there could possibly be, but our favorite was Elmer's Special Day, by David McKee. We were so inspired by all of the beautiful Elmer designs that we drew and painted our own elephants. Then we used cut paper and oil pastels to create circus cars. First graders loved this project. They are displayed in trains around our school and are receiving so many compliments!

Folk Art Cities

This project was inspired by Deep Space Sparkle, and, as always, I loved the results! If you haven't checked out www.deepspacesparkle.com, check it out! My students looked at Art by Charles Wysocki, an folk artist who grew up not far from us in Detroit. Students used the handout from Deep Space Sparkle, as well as images of Wysocki's work, for inspiration. They used paint and marker to complete their beautiful projects.

The Art of Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud is a fun artist! His depictions of cakes, pies, ice cream, and collections of toys make his art so appealing to children. Second graders just finished some Thiebaud projects. Here are our lollipops, made from model magic and watercolor paints, and our gumball machines!