Zentangle Hands

 ZENTANGLE, BABY!

We had a fantastic time learning to Zentangle with the rest of America...I can see what the hype is all about!

We viewed many videos off of the internet and finally settled on the idea of using our hands as a base for our designs.

• Each finger can be a platform for you to get kids to break up their patterns and create unique ideas.
• I encouraged finding light and dark areas by using close/spaced lines and different markers.
• Provide them with ideas...photo copies and videos- there is a ton out there.
• Put on music...they get into a great zone!  (not elevator crud...live it up!)

   


               Enjoy!

Trufulla Trees

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

I love Dr. Seuss and spend quite a bit of energy celebrating his life and talent as both an artist and an author.  These Trufulla Trees were quite a hit!  I adapted some idea I saw on Pinterest to suit our needs.

The kids had a great time making these in a simple 40 minute station block!

Have fun!

Using the ideas from the Lorax, we first made sand jars in inspirational Seuss stripes.

I used the Playfoam clay to 'plug' the top...it works fabulous!!!

I colored cotton balls.  You can use bottled water color paints or other methods...let them dry out for a day or 2.

  

Use a marker to stripe the pipecleaners- they are your tree trunks!

Then glue both ends and push on the colored cotton balls.

 

I covered the Foamclay with 'grass' tissue paper.

It works well to poke three holes in the Foam clay

before pushing the trees down in the Foamclay.

We added a pre-printed label on the side that said "Save the Trees."  Students colored the Lorax yellow and wrote their name there as well.

FUN ART 4 KIDS!

Color   Wheel

Teaching the color wheel is fun!

We review in many different ways- including these simple take home bracelets- that only take up the last 10 minutes of a class.

Sometimes we use older clay or Play- Doh that has seen better days to experiment with color blending.

Naturally, kids like paint!  But after making our gigantic art math problem, we all get to do hand prints and record them as an answer.  They put out both hands and get one primary in each!

Another end of class (extra time project) can be to have kids group colored objects.  I put intermediate things in on purpose to stump them- it creates great conversation...and I hope- no fighting!

Cupcakes!

I have a 6yr.old cupcake today....all of this has inspired me to post my past cupcake images.

Our clay cupcakes...  See more here.

Do you know about this great marshmallow recipe for fondant? Use it in the classroom- your kids will love it!  All you need is a microwave!  It tastes FAR better than the tradition kind!

 

Love this video

This is such a simple, cute video for kids K-3. It explains the basic layout of the color wheel, including:

• primary
• secondary
• warm
• cool     and 
• complementary

Colors!!!!                        check it out!

Leonardo DaVinci- Lost Notebook Pages

Tape Lifting Process- A cool easy way to add new concepts to your art. 

Wow!  We found a few lost pages from Leonardo's sketchbooks! 

Another idea to add to my earlier post- Here!

 

This unit is done with my third grade students.  Each year we study Leonardo DaVinci and his marvelous significance to our world.  We discuss his mysterious designs, inventions, mirror writing (see here) and more.  This year kids are combining this information with a final project that reflects this knowledge and their own creativity.

They are creating a tape lift image collage with a personal drawing of an invention added in for effect.  They will also incorporate mirror writing (click) in the design. 

See the steps below.

1. Offer photocopies to your students (colored or black and white) 
2. Have them use good, stick masking tape to press over the copies.
3. Rub with fingers or nails for a few seconds, then lift it off. (do not panic if some paper comes up....it will all look cool later)
4. Place the faint image on Oak Tag paper- I like it because it is already tinted and aged! 
5. Continue- rub images and overlap them as you wish- fill in spaces.
6. You can add mirror writing, your own drawings, etc.

Then tint some glue or Mod Podge with watercolor paint or regular paints (be create) and spread over the area.  You can dab and rub it off with brown paper towels.  Some of my towel ripped off and stuck and made a fabulous effect, yeah!  

Some ideas-

You can bind the pages together as a book for a school open house, conference time or keep them all separate.