I have always admired the glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly, and was thrilled to see the Chihuly exhibition in the Botanic Gardens in Adelaide in January 2025. In 2024, and a few years before, I had done this plastic cup melt activity with Year 3-4 students, as it fitted in nicely with their classroom Science … Continue reading “Glass Bowls” Dale Chihuly inspired~ Year 3-4 art lesson
The true story of John Fitzpatrick Simpson and his donkey he named "Duffy" is well known for the courage shown by a soldier who joined the ANZACs and went to Gallipoli as a stretcher bearer. He was originally from Shields in England but went to Australia and worked a variety of jobs before enlisting with … Continue reading Simpson and his Donkey~ ANZAC story~ Yr 3-4 art lesson
Belynda Henry is an Australian artist from NSW who lives on a country property surrounded by a National Park which gives her plenty of inspiration for her abstract landscapes. She uses paints and pastels, brushes and palette knives to create shapes and textures of the natural environment. Belynda Henry did a series of works in … Continue reading Reflected Landscapes ~ inspired by Belynda Henry – Year 3 art lesson
These gorgeous geodes use a mix of mediums: coloured paper, liquid watercolours, glitter, markers and paint sticks. This lesson was adapted from an activity on the Artful Parent website. We watched a couple of videos about geodes: Types of Geodes & Where to Find Them andWhat's Inside These Rocks? - #sciencegoals for an understanding of … Continue reading Gorgeous Geodes~ Year 3
I did a unit on Pop Art and Andy Warhol to fit in with a Food theme a few years ago, and students made these models of a "Favourites" chocolate bar (obviously 'popular' food rather than healthy food!) The students had already created a digital Pop Art artwork using either a chocolate bar or an … Continue reading Chocolate Bar model: Year 3/4
I have seen this art lesson on a number of blogs and Instagram. I used this lesson as a simple way to introduce students to mixing tints (and talk about shades) Students first drew a face shape large in the middle of an A3 portrait piece of paper (I demonstrated). They then drew a semi … Continue reading Watermelon Smile Portraits~ Year 3 Introduction to Mixing Tints
Inspired by Frida Kahlo's 'Viva la Vida, Watermelons' and Diego Rivera's 'The Watermelons' students first discussed and compared the two artworks, then drew their own compositions of watermelons - whole, half and sliced, the shapes overlapping. Looking at images of watermelons, we talked about the different colour values and how to make them using tints- … Continue reading Watermelons ~ Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera inspired ~Colour mixing tints-Year 4
Year 3/4 have been learning about different biomes in their classroom, and in art lessons we have been making artworks about various biomes too. These artworks are focusing on aquatic biomes, specifically coral reefs. For inspiration we looked at the illustrations in the book, 'Hidden in the Sea' by Peggy Nille, and the art of … Continue reading Coral Reef Biome ~ Year 3-4 art lesson
Year 3/4 project looking at Australian animal habitats and biome of temperate forests where koalas, possums, sugar gliders, quolls etc. live. Students viewed and discussed artworks by a local wildlife artist and then chose an animal (I had plenty of print out image photos to choose from - mostly koalas) and sketching it large on … Continue reading Australian bush animals~ Yr 3/4 mixed media art lesson
This lesson is part of a series of lessons around the theme of 'BIOMES'- (geographical area consisting of a biological community formed in response to the regional climate), this one being a GRASSLAND BIOME. There are many examples of African animal / savanna sunset silhouettes in stock photos and art, and was perfect for Year … Continue reading African Savanna Animal Silhouettes ~ Year 3-4 art lesson
