Artist Study: Claude Monet

We started this lesson by reading the book The Magical Garden of Claude Monet. Another good one is Linnea in Monet's Garden.

In the story a young girl visits Monet's famous gardens in Giverny. We looked at pictures of the garden and also examples of Monet's art. We talked about what makes his art unique and the stylistic elements of the Impressionists. I then handed out cardstock with pre-made bridges made of tape on them. The learners then painted on top, making sure to use the Impressionistic style. Once they were dry, we peeled off the tape, and voila, Impressionist masterpieces!

Spring: Chinese Blossoms

I can't help but do this project every spring. The first step is to take a blob of watered down paint and have the kids blow the paint around the paper using a straw to create the trunks and branches of a tree. Then they glue tissue paper flowers to their tree. If possible it's nice for the kids to be able to examine real cherry or plum blossoms beforehand. We also looked at Japanese prints of cherry blossoms.

Artist Study: Paul Klee

First we looked at the art of Paul Klee and how he used shapes to create simple compositions. We then used circles, squares and triangles to make our own Klee-like architectural compositions. (A nice touch is adding some tinfoil shapes.)

Sculpture: Dr. Seuss 3D Art

To Celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday in the beginning of March we made construction paper sculptures in the style of Dr. Seuss's drawings. First we looked at Oh, The Places You'll Go and the Lorax go get a feel for the stylistic shapes. Then armed with strips of construction paper, cardboard and glue, the kids went to town, making zany landscapes. Note: Yes Paste works best for this type of project. Not

only does it stick real well, but it also allows kids to make changes as they go.

Winter: Perspective Snowmen

Last year we made snowmen from the close-up 3/4 perspective. This year we expanded upon that by painting snowmen from another perspective altogether. This time, looking up at the snowmen. Anything that can switch the kids' mindset from a snowman being made up of three perfect circles is a good thing!

Scarves were made of construction paper squares laid down in patterns.

Some kids even drew the buttons going back in space, with the closest buttons being the largest, the furthest away being the smallest. 

We polished off the creations with everyone's favorite material (except perhaps the custodian's)...glitter!