Mixed Media Nests



I'm very excited about this mixed media project for K-2nd graders! We'll be starting it soon. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good book to read to them for this lesson?



Dr. Seuss Creations: Tizzled Topped Tufted Mazurkas

“ I’ll go to the African island of Yerka

And bring back a

tizzle-topped Tufted Mazurka

A kind of canary with quite a tall throat.

His neck is so long, if he swallows an oat

For breakfast the first day of April, they say

It has to go down such a very long way

That it gets to his stomach the fifteenth of May.”

-Dr. Seuss

If I Ran the Zoo

 

Truffula Trees

In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Reading month, first graders made some Truffula trees in Art class. Inspired by the book The Lorax, first graders drew, cut, and pasted these fun creations.
 

“It’s a Truffula seed,

It’s the last one of all!

You’re in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.

And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.

Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.

Give it clean water and feed it fresh air.

Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.

Then the Lorax

and all of his friends

may come back.”

-Dr. Seuss

Greek Vases

Third graders made these awesome Greek vases and columns. We began by looking at many examples of pottery from Ancient Greece. Many of the pictures on the pots and vessels told stories about life in Ancient Greece. They also had beautiful patterns and designs. Third graders made styrofoam prints of their vases and finished their work with a Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian column.

Cave Art

Kindergartners just finished a great lesson about Cave Art. We looked at images from Lascaux and used the smartboard to play "eye spy" and find certain pictures on the cave walls like horses, paw prints, foot prints, and circle designs.

Then students used a handout from the awesome book Dynamic Art Projects for Children by Denise Logan. They each began with a rectangle for a body, added their own head, and finished with designs inside the rectangle body.

Using the handout for inspiration, kindergartners did a great job drawing with marker, coloring with oil pastel, and smearing chalk in the background of their "rock" pictures.

Paul Klee Cat and Bird

I love Paul Klee's Cat and Bird painting. I think the Lois Ehlert book, Feathers for Lunch, is the perfect companion when talking about that painting with Kindergartners! Today we created these works of art inspired by the book and painting!