Colour and Pattern Snail~Clare Youngs inspired: Year 1-2

I introduced the students to some collages of snails by Clare Youngs, a designer and illustrator from the UK. We discussed how she might have made her artworks and the colours and shapes used.

For our activity, students chose a colour scheme of three colours: warm, cool, primary or secondary colours. They used those colours to made painted papers. The following lesson they cut out the shapes and added patterns to some of them. They then assembled the pieces.

On the back of a larger piece of painted paper I drew/ traced a spiral shape for the children to cut out, along with a ‘foot’ and ‘head’ in the other colour.

To make the lesson more streamlined, I have made templates with the shapes needed to be printed out then painted on the reverse. There is also a demonstration video to show the steps in the lesson plan below. It will help make the lesson run smoothly and the process easy to follow.

This lesson plan includes discussion questions with a display page, success criteria for each lesson step, templates to print and paint on reverse, ready for cutting out the pieces needed to make the snail, link to a video demonstrating the process of painting and putting the snail together, a pattern ideas sheet, and a reflection sheet for students to identify colours, shapes and patterns used.

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Hungry Caterpillars & Beautiful butterflies ~ Prep art lesson

The theme of ‘change’ is a perennial one in primary school, and for Prep students, caterpillars to butterflies along with Eric Carle’s ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ is a wonderful inspiration for art lessons. Last year’s Preps made painted paper caterpillar & butterfly collages which were amazing. This year in the classroom they were looking more at chemical change, so I decided to do colour mixing activities- primary colour mixing to make secondary colours.

I shared The Very Hungry Caterpillar story and we looked closely at the colours on the caterpillar. The students were given a small pieces of blue and yellow Model Magic paper clay to roll and knead together to make green.

They then tore off small pieces to roll into balls, pushing only lightly together to join. Some decided to make a hump on their caterpillar. Next they were given a small piece of red for the head and a tiny bit of yellow to separate in two for the eyes.

short video of process

To make purple for the antennae, they were given a tiny amount of blue and red to then roll thinly to attach to the top of the head. They just used a green texta to add dots on the yellow eyes. Brown for the legs.

Butterflies were made by using food dye in dauber bottles on a folded piece of kitchen paper. Students daubed the colours any way they liked and when opened could see the design was mirrored on the other side. (Discuss symmetry!)

The drew a half butterfly wing design and I used that to cut out the folded kitchen paper when dry. Students chose an insect body (made by Roylco), put a chenille stick through the head for antennae and I fan folded their butterfly to insert though the slot in the body.

I made a stand for the butterflies and caterpillars from wire embedded in plaster which the Preps painted in green tones.

The Preps then cut out a leaf shape and added lines for the leaf veins. I taped the leaf with the caterpillar onto the shorter piece of wire and simply wound the other taller wire around the butterfly body. The wire could be adjusted to suit viewing.

Video of completed models

Places in my Community~ James Rizzi inspired. Yr 1-2 art lesson

The students in Year 1 & 2 had been on a community walk with their teachers down to the shops and services like the police station and library in our local area. In Art class we listed all the places they saw or know, like the local shops, supermarket and cafes.

We had a discussion using “Visual Thinking Strategies” (VTS) after viewing the James Rizzi artwork below. One child said, “It looks like the buildings are alive!” which was a lovely observation…..and I asked, “What do you see that makes you say that?” And on we went.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THIS PICTURE? WHAT DO YOU SEE THAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT? WHAT ELSE CAN YOU FIND?

We used the idea of drawing shapes, adding a face and windows, and the name of what the building is. This is a spin on a Cassie Stephens mural. They loved this activity and let their imagination run. Paint sticks were used to colour in their buildings.

Year 1/2 Victorian Curriculum Lesson Plan with learning intentions, success criteria, artwork image & discussion ideas, students examples.

Collage/Mixed Media Houses- & Paper Bag Houses~Prep art lesson

Children used pre-cut shapes to assemble a house shape with white or coloured squares for windows and the number of people in their family. They draw a face of each family member on the squares. Shutters (patterned paper) are added over the window squares and cut so they open in the middle.

A background for the newspaper house is made by using white pastel for clouds in the sky (blue dye wash or liquid watercolour over) green sponge for textured grass. Students glue their house to the background, adding trees, flowers, fence.

Paper bag houses!

Not my original idea- I’ve seen this on lots of other blogs- just my take on it.

The paper bag house is a similar process, except the students are gluing onto stiff paper bag (that will stand up on it’s own) They add a garden or yard by sitting it on green paper, adding stand up trees, flowers etc. The roof is a folded piece of coloured card, stapled on.

Lesson plan aligned to the Victorian Curriculum with learning intention, success criteria, lesson activities and a reflection sheet for the students. Lesson includes the mixed media collage and the paper bag houses (similar steps)

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Frog Life Cycle~ Year 1/2 Mixed media art lesson

As part of a theme of Growth and Change, Year 1 & 2 discussed changes in the weather and the seasons and nature. We talked about the traditional seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and learnt about the seven Aboriginal Seasons of the Kulin Nation (Melbourne and south central Victoria) by viewing a Calendar. We noted that September and October is called “Poorneet”- Tadpole Season. Some children had said they’d seen tadpoles and small frogs in a local park with a lake.

We watched a video about the life cycle of a frog, with pictures of the stages and changes.

Students painted a lake, pond or creek/river. They formed tadpoles for plasticine and eggs from bubble wrap.

Painted paper was made with browns and greens using texture wands to make frog skin.

Children used templates to help them draw the body parts for their frog onto the back of their painted paper to then cut out and glue together, then place on their pond scene.

Lesson plan with learning intentions, success criteria, lesson activities, links to videos used, frog templates, and Victorian Curriculum links.

Hungry Caterpillars ~ Eric Carle inspired. Prep collage art lesson

Eric Carle’s children’s books and illustrations are a delight to read to children and also a wonderful inspiration so many art projects- who doesn’t love painted paper collages?

The Prep students (first year at Primary school) were working on a theme of “Growth and Change” and the story “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” fits in beautifully. This art lesson is the first part- of course there has to be the cocoon and then the butterfly!

We watched an animated version of the story on Youtube, and I also had a copy of the book to look carefully at the pictures. We discussed how they think Eric Carle made the pictures- someone did eventually proffer that he painted paper and then cut and pasted it. We talked about how he might have got the effects of texture. I then showed them a short video of Carle making making paper, and collaging a butterfly, so they could see his process.

Making painted paper:

Students were given a tray with a dark green, an ‘apple’ green, and white. They were instructed not to actually mix the colours, but to double dip to cover their entire paper and then while the paint was wet to use a texture wand or comb to dab or scrape through the wet paint. They also did a smaller piece of paper with red, yellow and purple paint in sections. These are left to dry for the next session.

We looked at Eric Carle’s caterpillar and decided that the shape needed for the body parts was an oval. So to make a template for the caterpillar’s body, each child was given a smallish piece of cardboard to fill it with an oval shape. After checking with me that it was big enough, they cut it out and used that to trace onto the back of their painted paper as many as they could. (we folded the paper in half so they would cut two out at a time) They traced a slightly bigger head on the red paper and used the yellow to cut circles for eyes, the purple for antennae.

I demonstrated how they could glue down their ovals- we talked about arranging and overlapping- once again referring to Carle’s caterpillar. Students cut out yellow eyes, purple antennae and green circles for on top of eyes and a small triangle nose. I cut the little ‘L’ shaped feet for them from scrap brown painted paper.

Full Lesson Plan with Learning Intentions, Success Criteria, (also enlarged for display on screen or print) lesson activities, youtube video links, and self evaluation rubric.

Fauvist Cows~ by Prep/ Foundation

LEARNING INTENTIONS:

Students will explore the Fauvist movement by drawing a cow and and colouring with bold, bright colours.

To follow a guided drawing of a cow’s head and use bold colours, like the “Fauves”.

SUCCESS CRITERIA:

I can follow directions to draw a large cow’s head that fills my paper.

I can use pastels to colour in bold colours.

I can blend my pastel colour with water and paint the background with dye wash in one colour.

LESSON ACTIVITIES:

Students view artwork of this colourful cow by Claudio Malacarne (Italian artist) painted in 2008

Discuss: What do you see?

Why do you think the artist painted the cow with colours rather than looking real?

How does it make you feel?

Discuss the term “Fauve”, and show some paintings from the Fauvist period that use colour in this bold fashion.

Students follow guided drawing directions to draw a large cow’s head that fills the paper. They go over the lines in black crayon and then use water soluble pastels to colour in bright colours.

Using a brush and water they paint over the water soluble pastel colours to blend and spread the colour to give a painted effect.

Food dye wash in one colour for the background.

Reflection: Students look at their artwork and decide which smiley face they feel about how they went with each criteria.

“The Cow Jumped over the Moon!” Prep Art lesson

The Prep students made a mixed media artwork of the cow jumping over the moon from the nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle, the cow jumped over the Moon”. The foil moon idea came from @monpetitsoukdidees and it worked really well.

They used SHAPE to help them draw parts of a cow using a rectangle for the body and a smaller one for the head, with long rectangle legs which they then arranged in a jumping action.

Two videos to watch as an introduction about the rhyme: Hey Diddle Diddle Nursery Rhyme and the story The Cow Tripped Over the Moon.

Victorian Curriculum Foundation Lesson Plan with learning intention, success criteria & lesson activities.

Colour and Emotion: Picasso Portraits ~Year 1-2 art lesson

LEARNING INTENTIONS:

To learn about Picasso’s abstract portraits showing different views of facial features, including portrait of Dora Mar and the Weeping Woman.

To create portraits to show emotion in the style of Picasso.

SUCCESS CRITERIA:

I can talk about some abstract portraits by Picasso.

I can explore different facial features to make abstract Picasso style portraits.

I can use paint/ pastel, line and colour to create an artwork of an expressive face with two sides (each showing a different emotion) in the style of Picasso

I can use a colour to match the emotion shown on each side of the face.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

As an introduction, watch a video (see below a list of suitable videos for Year 1-2) like “Picasso elementary lesson” explaining his style and why he made his portraits this way.

VIDEOS:

Pablo Picasso: Cubist Art Lesson – video about emotions and Picasso’s abstract portraits

Picasso’s Trousers by Nicholas Allan | Art Stories with Kids– picture story book about Picasso’s abstract art

Pablo Picasso Elementary Lesson – Picasso bio, abstract portraits etc

Pablo Picasso: Cubist Art Lesson Picasso use of colour- most relevant part of the video from 4:09min

View portrait of Dora Maar painting by Picasso. Discuss the colours used and the different views of the face. Next, view Weeping Woman 1937. Note the colours and emotion on the faces (Explain Picasso drew and painted a series of “Weeping Woman” in response to the Spanish Civil war and the loss and devastation- these portraits portraying a mother who has lost her child in the bombing, using colour and expression to convey feelings of anguish, horror, deep sorrow and mourning.)

Students can compare these two portraits of “Weeping Woman” by talking about the similarities and differences.

Students are shown how we can draw a Picasso face by playing “Roll a Picasso” game to choose different features. They draw some faces in their Scrap Books.

Next lesson, students choose two emotions they would like to show on either side of the face, choosing some features from their Roll-a-Picasso drawings to suit the feeling. Students draw in grey-lead pencil, firstly drawing a face shape or using a template to trace. After making a mark in the middle of the face students choose a nose to draw down from that point, then adding the line continuing up to the top of the head and below the nose to split the face in two. They add eyes, mouth hair etc. Trace over in black marker.

Talk about colours that could represent emotions. For example, yellow=happy, sad=blue, red=angry, green=calm, purple=confused. Students paint their faces in a colours to match the emotion shown on each half.

Background can paint or food dye “wash” . Students describe the emotion on each side of the face along with colour chosen to match.

Primary Colours- Alexander Calder inspired ipad art – Year 1

LEARNING INTENTIONS: To learn about the Primary Colours To learn about line and shape To learn about the artist Alexander Calder

SUCCESS CRITERIA: I can use the primary colours in a digital artwork. I can use various lines and ORGANIC shapes in an artwork. I know that Alexander Calder made artworks and mobiles that often used primary colours.

This lesson uses the Brushes App to make a digital artwork. We looked at Alexander Calder’s paintings and discussed the colours, lines and shapes used. We looked at the colour wheel to identify the primary colours.

LINES: curved, loopy, wavy, straight SHAPES: rounded and organic, circles

Students opened Brushes App to start a “new painting”. I showed them how to find or edit a ‘brush’ so they had a smooth stroke and choose black to draw various lines and some shapes inspired by Calder’s work.

They then need to add a layer (this will need to be demonstrated) Primary colours: red blue and yellow, are chosen to colour in the shapes and maybe add a shape, spiral, or line.

The outline layer is dragged on top of the colouring in layer.

Calder inspired iPad art- Brushes App