Kids and Crayons…Markers and Meltdowns…

Welcome back to another episode of Adventures in the Art Room. I’m your host, Sarah. At school, they call me “Mrs. Sarah,” although I also answer to any other teacher’s name. I know they are talking to me.  Isn’t this portrait adorable? One of my second graders drew this of me earlier this month. (I’ve become a redhead in recent weeks.) It had been a long day, so this sweet drawing gave me a huge boost. I love that she drew my name tag (I wear them every week to help the kids)—details are what make portraits come to life.

We have had a lot happening in the art room. There have been a few meltdowns. There are squabbles about markers. But amid the chaos, we’ve made some good Black History Month art and some colorful Chinese New Year art. With no further ado, let’s begin!

Kindergarten colored dragons for Chinese New Year. We used collage techniques, layering paper on another piece of paper, practicing our gluing techniques. (Side note: the kids’ glue use ranges from the Minimalist School of Glue—one tiny dot for a whole paper—to the More Is More School—an entire glue stick used on all surfaces, including ones not needing glue. These kids keep me on my toes!!!)

First grade made Chinese New Year lanterns with a detailed dragon to color. The kids cut fringe from construction paper, to represent the tassels hanging from lanterns. 

Second and third grade made Chinese New Year lanterns as well. The Chinese characters in the middle of these lanterns means “good luck.” We discussed why yellow and red are used in Chinese culture. Red is a lucky color and it represents happiness. Yellow represents hope and the earth, as well as prosperity.  

Fourth grade banners.

My fourth graders made banners for Chinese New Year. I asked the kids to add decorative borders to their banners, and they delivered. 2022 is the year of the tiger, and in Chinese culture, a tiger represents strength, bravery and wisdom. 

Fifth and sixth grades have been busy with paint projects, but they are not finished. You will have to wait until next month to see their creations. I know...waiting is hard.

Seventh and eighth grades made collages for Black History Month. We talked about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr, two people who were fundamental in the Civil Rights Movement. The kids wrote inspiring quotes on their art, and decorated their collages with red, green and black accents. Those colors are prevalent in African flags.

 

Seventh grade art:

Eighth grade art:

This month has flown by, hasn't it? I will see you again soon to share more colorful work from my spirited students. If you need me, I'll be scraping orange crayon out of the electric pencil sharpener...

To Infinity...And Beyond!

Welcome to a new year of fun-filled art blog posts, hosted by…moi! How has your 2022 started off? I didn’t stay up til midnight on New Year’s Eve. This tired teacher needs her sleep.

My super students have been hard at work/play with different materials. We started our new year with a trip to outer space and fun was had by kids big and small. (It seems outer space is a guaranteed hit with kids. Is it because of the mystery of space? The unknown? Star wars? Who knows, but the kids have enjoyed this project, and who am I to question good fortune?)

Kindergarten practiced coloring, cutting and gluing planets and rockets to their outer space scene. 

First grade made portholes, as though they were in a spaceship, looking out at the galaxy. 

Fourth grade did outer space scenes with a 3-d Styrofoam planet for some spatial depth. 

See how these half spheres make our scenes 3-D?

Sixth grade also did outer space scenes with Styrofoam planets. I love how these imaginative kids added so many individual touches.  

Seventh grades made scenes with 3-d planets, too. Lots of seventh graders were missing from class because they were quarantining. But fear not—the remaining students did their best to make even more noise than usual, thereby filling in any gaps in the noise department. The noise-o-meter was at 100%!

 

Of course, I wore my outer space dress to teach, along with planet earrings I made and a head dress I also made from Styrofoam and wire. I like a good theme…

Second grade took a journey back in time to the age of the dinosaur. The kids colored dinosaurs and added backgrounds to round out the scene. I gave them a choice to color printables with realistic dinosaurs or friendly ones. After all, they are young, and I didn't want to give anyone nightmares...

 

 

Third grade is hard at work on art projects but you’ll have to wait a month to see theirs.

Fifth grade experimented with solar paper. Are you familiar? Solar paper undergoes a change when it is in sunlight, so the kids put objects on it and brought it into the sun for two minutes. You get an impression of your items on the paper. We added colorful borders to complete our project. Who says science and art aren’t friends? Not I. 

And 8^th grade did watercolor paintings with a theme of their choice. This was a quick project I threw in at the last minute as I didn’t have all the materials I needed for our next project. Sometimes pulling something out of a hat at the last second works pretty well. 

As February tiptoes closer, we’re starting new projects in the art room. Let’s meet back here in a month so you can be dazzled by my students’ imaginations.

And in other happy news, have you noticed that the days are getting just a tiny bit longer? Spring is coming!