Where's Waldo Bulletin Board
For the first project, I will have all students create a self-portrait. My only rule is: no stick people! I will let the students draw themselves however they want. Next, I will collect all the self-portraits and hang them up to create the "Where's Waldo (Mrs. Egbert)?" board! Students will have had a great time looking for themselves!
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Beautiful Oops
I will read the wonderful cook by Barney Saltzberg called "Beautiful Oops". We will discuss that there are no mistakes in art. You can turn any "oops" into a wonderful masterpiece. I will:
•Have each child make a mistake on purpose (a smear, a dot, a scribble) on a piece of paper. •After one minute, have everyone pass his or her drawing to the left. •The next person adds onto the drawing to turn it into something amazing. (Themes may be suggested at first, like Pass the Lion, or Pass the Truck, or Pass the Monster, etc.) |
Primary Colors for our MiceStudents will overlap primary colors to make a background for their Mouse Paint mice. I will use Ellen Stoll Walsh's Mouse Paint to reinforce the concept of primary and secondary colors.
Students will start with yellow cake tempera and paint about one third of their background, starting at the corner and brushing towards the center. Then, after getting their brushes REALLY clean they will do the same with red paint, overlapping part of the yellow, creating orange. When they add blue, they overlap both red and yellow, making purple and green. I will use Ellen Stoll Walsh's Mouse Paint to reinforce the concept of primary and secondary colors. When the bodies are torn, (while the backgrounds havea chance to dry a bit) and cut pink ears and tails to glue on to their bodies with small dots of glue. Students can choose to paint their mouse with a primary color, or mix two colors to paint the mouse a secondary color. They will use small lids as palettes for their mixing and many referred back to the colors they will have used in the background to mix the secondary color that they want. |
Art portfolio weekWe will be making our art portfolios. I would like to teach the students to treat the artwork respectfully. I do not want it to get stuffed into the backpack and thrown away before it even makes it home. We will create our portfolios where the art work will be stored. We will have a portfolio night at the end of the 1st semester when the students will be able to take their art work home and show it to their families.
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Pizza PartyStudents will love this project where they get to invent their own pizza. It is a great project with lots of cutting for the kids. They will start by tracing two large circles for the crust and the sauce. Next, they cut lots of tiny rectangles of the cheese. After that they will let their imagination run wild and add lots of delicious toppings!
Grade: 1st grade Time: one 50 min class Materials: scissors colored construction paper large circle tracer Elmers glue Learning Objectives: To give students more practice with scissors. To give students more practice using liquid glue, and to teach them proper glue techniques. ![]()
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Shape with Splat the catRob Scotton's, Splat the Cat, offers many opportunities for primary learning activities. 1st graders will explore painting and cutting shapes to create their own version of Splat.
Materials: Black tempura paint, pink/purple/gray crayons or pastels, pink construction paper, scissors. |
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Kandinsky CirclesStudents look at the work of Vassily Kandinsky, especially his concentric circle paintings. They then create their own circle drawing using oil pastels. It is important to tell kids to color in slowly and carefully, because light scribbles do not create the same effect. The finish drawings can be hung individually, or all together to create a giant Kandinsky mural!
Grade: 1st grade Time: one-two 45 min classes Materials: 9"x12" white drawing paper pencils rulers oil pastels Learning Objectives: To introduce students to the artwork for Vassily Kandinsky. To practice fine motor skills of drawing circles freehand. |
Picasso Flowers
After reading a short story about the life of Pablo Picasso, students created simple paintings inspired by his work. They kept the hands in a basic outline and added only minimal detail, similar to his painting titled "Hand with Flowers".
Grade: 1st grade Time: one 60 min class Materials: pencil Sharpie marker watercolor paints Learning Objectives: To introduce students to the artwork of Pablo Picasso. Practice freehand painting without any pencil lines ![]()
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Arlo Needs GlassesWe will read a book by Barney Saltzberg called "Barney needs glasses." Barney a shaggy, free-spirited dog who loves to play catch, until one day he can’t. He can’t see the ball anymore. He needs glasses! Students will create their pictures of Arlo and glasses that Arlo can wear.
MATERIALS: Glue, kid-safe scissors, Scotch tape• Crayons, Magic Markers, colored pencils, glitter, stickers |
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Spider on a WebStart by painting the whole sheet of paper with acrylic paint. Spread it out thin, so it can dry. We then cut our black 1/2 sheet in half. Draw and cut out the body and head on one half, and cut strips for the legs on the other half. We glue the pieces of our spider together.
With the white oil pastel, draw the spiderweb on top of the dried acrylic painting. Glue on the spider and add eyes with white & black pastel. Materials: Cardstock or Bristol board, 1/2 sheet of black construction paper, glue stick, scissors, pencil, white & black oil pastel, paint brush, Acrylic paint (yellow, red & orange)
During this lesson we will be using oil pastels. We will also talk about highlights and shadows on an object. It is a great way to show (foreground, midground and background) with the pumpkins.
Students read the book Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni. They then create abstract designs based on the story. This is a great opening project for early in the year as students are getting adjusted to their classmates, the art room, and the art supplies.
Grade: 1st grade Time: one-two 45 min class sessions Materials: Book- Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni white drawing paper fine point colored markers Learning Objectives: To give students the opportunity to explore abstract Art and mark making. To observes students fine motor skills and offer suggestions and tips for students who art struggling with their designs. PumpkinsThis lesson might take two class periods. In this lesson the first graders will learn about line and color mixing in this pumpkin painting project. In the first class, we will talk about lines. Next, I will teach the students to draw a pumpkin.
Here's the trick that we will use:
Students will read the book "Elmer the Elephant" about an elephant who is sad because he is different from the rest of the elephants. At the end of the story all the elephants proclaim that they love Elmer just the way he is and they want to celebrate him by having a parade in his honor and having everyone dressing up in patchwork colors like him. Student get a chance to create their own Elmer inspired elephant using tissue paper and glue. The used collaging techniques to stick the tissue paper to a large piece of white paper. Then they drew their own elephant and cut it out. They added a few details like eyes and ears, and in the end we had our own Elmer's Day Parade!
Grade: 1st grade Time: two 45 min classes Materials: Book- Elmer by David McKee 12"x18" white paper pencils color markers scissors Elmers glue tissue paper or construction paper Learning Objectives: To give students more practice with scissors. To give students more practice using liquid glue, and to teach them proper glue techniques. To teach students that being different is okay. Clay fishMaterials: Crayola Model Magic, cardboard or chip board rectangles, glue, acrylic paint, paint brushes, water cups, paper towels, pencil, paint tray
This is a 2 part project. 1 class sculpting and the next class to paint. We sculpt the fish body first and glued it to the cardboard, then sculpted the tail fins, attach to the body and add a drop of glue under each tail fin to stick it to the cardboard. The clay slightly shrinks as it dries, so be sure it’s really attached to the body well. Add the side fin and the top fin and then an eye. Use the back of the pencil to indent a circle in the eye and the tip of the pencil to indent scales on the body and lines in the fins. The clay dries over night. Paint step by step with acrylic paint. |
Learning Objectives: To introduce children to the concept of "rotational symmetry".To practice using liquid glue bottles. (Not too much, not too little, just right) |
Learning to Draw SnowflakesFirst grade students learn to draw snowflakes. We talk about rotational symmetry and how each "branch" of the snowflake should match the other branches. But we also talk about how no two snowflakes are alike, they should not feel pressure to make every snowflake "perfect"! They start by drawing them with pencil first, then they traced their drawings with glue and glitter. They really sparkle!
Grade: 1st grade Time: one 45 min class Materials: Black construction paper pencils Elmers glue Silver glitter |
Still looking for a fun book about penguins in the snow. I plan that we paint a snow scene and then we paint with "scissors" to create penguins that were jumping and sliding in our snow. We will talk about basic shapes and how we can use them to create art. This will be fun and the children will have a good time trying to figure out how to make their penguin slide down the hill.
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Other ideas:
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Pointillism ButterflyStudents create their first pointillism picture using the subject of butterflies as their inspiration. They use a butterfly tracer to map out the shape of the butterfly, then they fill in the wings and body with patterns and color. They also need to think about mirror symmetry since the patterns on a butterfly's wings are always the same. The challenge to their project is that the entire thing must be done only using "dots", much like the artist George Seurat. From a distance the colors come together to form the patterns, lines and shapes. It is a time consuming project that helps teach students patience and discipline.
Grade: 1st gradeTime: two 60 min classes Materials: 9"x12" white paper pencils fine tip colored markers examples of artwork by Georges Seurat Learning Objectives: To introduce students to the method of Pointillism, and the artwork of Georges Seurat. To teach students about patience and taking their time to complete a detailed drawing. To fine tune students' motorskills. |
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Paper Weaving with Large StripsWeaving is an important skill and also a challenging one for children in first grade. For this project we start off with a simple over under weaving using strips of paper two inches wide. After the weaving is complete the students cut out shapes to create a more interesting design when the weaving is put together.
Grade: 1st grade Time: one 45 min class Materials: Colored 9"x12" construction paper Colored 9" strips of paper scissors Elmers glue Learning Objectives: To introduce students with the technique of weaving. They only weave 4 strips, but this lesson is an introduction to help prepare them for more complex weaving when they get older. |
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Faith Ringgold QuiltStudents learn about the artist Faith Ringgold. They look at images of her famous quilts and discuss the importance of the imagery in the middle of each one. Students then create their own paper quilt. To practice their scissor skills they cut a huge pile of small squares. Then they use those squares to create a border around the outside of the their artwork. When they were done with the border they drew an picture in the middle that was based on a memory, just like Faith Ringgold did with her quilts.
Grade: 1st grade Time: two-three 45 min classes Materials: 9"x9" white drawing paper strips of colored paper, or magazines pencils Sharpie markers crayons Elmers glue scissors Learning Objectives: To introduce students to the artwork and life of Faith Ringgold. To introduce students to the concept that paintings and artwork can take many different forms (quilts). To have students choose one memory for the subject of their "quilt" and to draw that image from their imagination. |
Pilgrim QuiltAround Thanksgiving the students create a quilt square with drawings of the things that they are thankful for. They use rulers to make a border around the outside, and they use pencils and markers to create the images. In the end an entire classroom can display their squares together to form a large Thanksgiving Quilt.
Grade: 1st grade Time: two 45 min classes Materials: 9"x9" pencils rulers Sharpie markers colored markers Learning Objectives: To introduce students to the artwork of Faith Ringgold, famous quilt artist.To have students draw from imagination, things that they are thankful for.To have students work as a class to create a collaborative project. |
Observational SunflowerStudents were given vases of sunflowers to look at and draw. They were introduced to the idea of observational drawing... rather than drawing what you "think", you draw what you "see". After their pencils drawings were completed they added watercolor paint. (The above example was not done by a first grader. I will add a first grade image after they complete the lesson this year).
Grade: 1st grade Time: one-two 45 min classes Materials: 12"x18" white drawing paper pencils Sharpie markers watercolor paints or tempera cakes Learning Objectives: To teach students about observational drawing, and not just drawing what they "think" they see. To give students the opportunity to practice their fine motor skills while painting |
Glue Pastel Drawing
First grade students did a creative project where they got to draw with glue! After the glue dried it created little barriers that divided the sections of the drawing. They filled in their drawing with color using oil pastels.
Grade: 1st grade Time: two 45 min classes Materials: 9"x12" colored construction paper Elmers glue oil pastels Learning Objectives: To introduce students to a wide variety of art materials.To introduce students to abstract art. To practice using liquid glue bottles. (Not too much, not too little, just right) |
Pattern Frog
This is a fun project that gives students a chance to get back to drawing. They create a frog shape and fill the body with many colors, lines and patterns. When they are done coloring it in they can cut out the frog! Students are encouraged to use lots of bright colors and do as many patterns as they can think of.
Grade: 1st grade Time: two 60 min classes Materials: 9"x12" white paper pencils Sharpie markers colored markers scissors frog-shaped tracers Learning Objectives: To encourage students to try many, many different types of patterns to fill their frogs with lots of interesting colors and designs.To reinforce the first grade curriculum where the students are learning about the life cycle of a frog. To give students the opportunity to practice "neat" coloring techniques. (No spaghetti coloring) ![]()
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Fall LeavesMaterials: Yellow, orange, red and magenta tempera paint or acrylic paint,
1/2 sheets white card stock, Q-tips or small brushes, Construction Paper Crayons*, pencil & eraser *I use Construction Paper Crayons for many lessons throughout the year. I have my nice full sets and I have sets that I’ve unwrapped and broken each crayon into small pieces. I almost always sort the colors they need into cups for each lesson. It really works out well. Check out the blog post Organizing crayons We start by drawing the stem of a leaf, then one side of the leaf, then the other. We then draw in the veins. Draw the next 2 leaves. I tried to have the students draw 3 different types of leaves. Once the leaves are drawn, we outline the leaf with a dark red, orange or brown Construction Paper Crayon. Then using cool colors we color in the background carefully around the leaves (I gave them an assortment of greens and blues). I prepped plates with colors of paint. Using the q-tips to paint, we swirl through the color and carefully paint each leaf |
Simple Shape Animal DrawingsMaterials: Crayola Construction Paper Crayons, pencil & eraser, black marker, 1/2 sheets of drawing paper.I create a version of these animals for different grade level as a review of drawing at the begining of each school year. For 1st grade they get to draw two animals, side by side. Puppy, Kitty, Bear or Bunny.
On a half sheet of drawing paper we begin with 2 circles for the heads, then draw in the shoulders, and a smaller circle on the face for the snout for each. We can also draw I the eyes and little lines on the body for the arms. At this point, I let them decide which 2 animals they would like, as I give examples of each one. We start with the nose and mouth. The Puppy and Bear have oval noses, the Kitty and Bunny have upside down triangle noses. The mouths are the same for each. Then on to the ears, Puppy has long ovals that hang down, the Bear has circles, the Kitty has triangles and the Bunny has long ovals that go up. We can also add freckles or whiskers. Outline everything with marker and then erase the pencil lines. We color in lightly with one color for each animal. I separated out just a few color choices to keep it simple and not take away from the line drawing. I’ve posted before about Crayola Construction Paper Crayons, my favorite crayons. I use my old incomplete sets and break them in to about inch long pieces. They are great for shading in lightly, by using the sides of them. I can easily sort out colors for projects. |
ice cream with values and shadesThis is a repost. This is a similar lesson to the one they get to do in Kinder, so the drawing goes quickly.
Materials: black card stock, pencil and eraser, Crayola color chalk, white chalk Draw the double scoop and cone. Start coloring with the cherry at the top. The wonderful thing about the Crayola Chalk sets is, most of the colors have a light and dark shade. They get to choose a set for each scoop. I have them start with the darker shade and fill in the whole scoop, then add in the light on one side. For the cone we use brown with some white chalk for the light values. They love that their ice cream looks real. I let them add sprinkles if time permits. I have them use their eraser to clean up any smudges and I spray with aqua net hair spray as a fixative. My business partner at Viridian Art Academy started this lesson at Wilbur Elementary in Tarzana, many years ago. It has evolved in to so many lessons. |