Rockin' Around the Art Room Mess

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

…as long as you love long lines, short days and endless to do lists!!!!

But seriously, whichever holiday you are celebrating this December, enjoy.

My wiggly art students have been up to their elf ears in fun projects, so settle in and prepare for awesomeness.

Kindergarten made Rudolph tree ornaments. I bravely/foolishly got out the runny Elmer’s Glue, and yes, there were spills. But we lived to tell about it and when the dust settled, we had thirty one charming Rudolph ornaments. 

In first grade art, we made manger scenes with watercolor skies. (I teach in a private school so some of our winter art has a religious feel.) They added dozens of silver stars to their night skies, and the results are very sweet.

 

Second grade created snowman tree ornaments with pipe cleaner arms and scarves. Aren’t they cheerful?

Third grade beaded candy cane ornaments with pipe cleaners. How cute are these?

Fourth grade made snowflake tree ornaments. They tried weaving for the first time. I turned my back for three seconds and two boys managed to tangle their yarn together in a hopeless knot. Three seconds! I whipped out the scissors and surgically removed the knot. We used sparkly yarn and popsicle sticks to make snowflakes with a God’s eye feel. And I assure you that they liked adding gems. Some tried putting gems on their shoes or hands. Yep, fourth graders have spirit!

Fifth grade really went old school and created traditional Christmas robots. What, you’ve never heard of such a thing? Wouldn’t it be great to have a robot—maybe Rosie, from the Jetsons—available throughout December to help with all the additional tasks that need to be finished? Rosie can shop for you, cook meals, wrap presents and give the dog a skunk shampoo if needed…

TURN UP SOUND & CHECK OUT MY ROBOT VIDEO ---

CLICK THE LINK DIRECTLY BELOW THIS SENTENCE: 

Robot Art Video     

***** Many people can't find the LINK to my ROBOT VIDEO. It's directly above this sentence--it's worth seeing!!!

To be honest, fifth grade’s robots are not intended as holiday art. We’ve been working on them for a while and since they are finished at last, they are part of this post. We used empty toilet paper rolls, recycled tissue boxes and a few other odds and ends to create fun robots. [Thanks to Barb for collecting extra tissue boxes for me!] And in answer to the question on your minds, yes, I did dance “The Robot” for the kids before starting the lesson and I invited them to dance, too. 

Sixth grade has been working on quilling art: 

waterfall scene by G.

Frog Man by my imaginative 6th grade student

The sixth graders also made paper tree ball ornaments. This was a quick project but festive, nonetheless.

Seventh grade decorated Ugly / Festive Christmas Sweaters that I cut from felt. Felt is awesome because it’s cheap and does not fray when you cut it. I had the kids glue beads, buttons, and sequins onto these mini sweaters. These are intended as tree ornaments and I think they are colorful and creative.

Eighth grade made 3-D poinsettia tree ornaments from paper and beads. They are festive and cheerful and I like how they turned out.

Thank you for checking out my amazing students’ art. This is my last blog post for the year, so I will wish you a happy, healthy 2022. I’ll be back in the new year with more real life stories of all my wacky adventures and the fun and mischief from the art room. ‘Til then, stay safe, and if in doubt, add sparkly gems to anything within reach… 

Feathers Flying

Hello, art fans! Thanks for joining me again for another edition of Sarah’s Art Students.

We’ve officially entered the frighteningly busy season where we adults are juggling our regular life activities, plus a few extra dozen things. I feel like I’m going a hundred miles per hour, feathers flying. At school we have been up to our elbows in seasonal artwork. From our littlest Kindergarteners to our eighth graders, it’s been a whirlwind of creativity.

The kindergarteners colored a drawing I photocopied for them. (This was not the time to test my calm by having five-year-olds create rivers of sticky Elmers glue, punctuated by feathers and bells and turkeys. Coloring seemed the best approach for my youngest students.) I told my littlest friends to write a few words to complete this sentence: I am thankful for_____. I said they could color the turkey and the drawing however they wanted, as long as they used happy colors. Here are a few of their drawings:

One of the classes is organizing an effort to deliver 170 cards to seniors living at a local assisted living facility, and so five of my classes made the residents Thanksgiving cards. This was not my idea—it was dreamed up by some fourth grade parents—but as I told the kids, Thanksgiving is about sharing. Sharing a happy thought and a cheerful drawing is a wonderful way to bring someone holiday cheer. Here is what first grade created:

Second grade made 3-d turkeys out of paper plates. They stand up. I teach them at the end of the school day, and if you’ve ever wondered how hyper seven-year-olds are at 2pm…you don’t want to know!

Third grade made 3-d turkeys. This is similar to a project I did with 4^th grade last year, but I decided it was okay to repeat myself. As long as kids are being creative and having fun, that’s my main goal.

Fourth grade also made greeting cards for the seniors in assisted living, and here are a few of their creations:

Fifth grade has been working on a top secret project that I’m not ready to reveal yet, so you’ll have to wait to see their art. I assure you, if art room mess indicates fun, they have been having a lot of fun!

Sixth, seventh and eighth grades made cards for local seniors, too, and here are a few ones that stood out. 

Eighth grade also finished up a unit on quilling. Quilling is an art form that involves wrapping narrow pieces of paper around a metal tool, producing coils of paper. You can pinch the coils to create teardrops and other shapes. I am intrigued by what these kids made, and while not all of them loved the project, most seemed to like trying something new. Here are their creations…

That’s a wrap on our November art scene at The Land of Flying Glue Sticks—I mean Sarah’s Peaceful Art Room. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. December brings stress for many of us, but as the motivational phrase says, Keep Calm and Carry a Pencil Sharpener. Or maybe that’s just what we say in the art room—but I think it applies to us all, don’t you? Keep calm. Be Safe. Have Fun. Ciao!