Kindergarten Winter Owls

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….a two part lesson using pieces of cardboard and their thumbs

Before Christmas I wanted to create a winter scene that used a minimum of paint but would still be fun for the children without making too much mess. I found a great assignment on Kids’ Artists.

The background is a dark blue or purple paper so that it contrasts with the white trees and looks like a night sky. The trees are created by dipping the edge of the cardboard into the white paint and dabbed onto the paper to form the trunk and branches. Then thumbs are dipped into the paint and stamped onto the branches to make the owl bodies. When the paint is dry the details are added with a fine tipped Black sharpie.

The children loved this project and some of them couldn’t stop stamping owls onto their trees.

My Year in Art – Part 3

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….this is the last instalment for Daily Post Countdown to the Year 2014

September – back to school so lots of children’s art, especially Kindergarten art and a trip to the AGO to see the Alex Colville show

October – leaf art, colour bugs, friendly monsters, art at the farmers’ market and artistic pumpkins

November and December – more monsters, poppies, kindergarten art -‘drawing my body’ and Picasso portraits and another on-line course called ‘Table Top Drawing and Painting’

Looking forward to more art in 2015!

Picasso Portraits as Seen Through the Eyes of Children

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….my kindergarten class just finished their Picasso portraits

After discussing faces and the different parts and how to draw them I introduced Pablo Picasso to my kindergarten class. We talked about the difference between reality painting and abstract painting and how Picasso could do both. I had photographs of some of Picasso’s abstract portrait paintings and then I drew an oval shape and divided it with a vertical line down the centre. I encouraged the children to use curvy or zigzag lines and to add more than one.

The next part was the fun part. They could draw as many eyes, noses and mouths as they wanted. They could use any colour for skin and hair. Each child was given a black Sharpie to draw a shape for the face, the lines within the shape and then all the facial features that they wanted to add. When they were done with that they took crayons and coloured in their Picasso faces and some of them coloured the background as well. I was amazed at the detail that they added. They really took the time to examine some of Picasso’s portraits and you could see how they tried to incorporate some of his design details in their own work. I think they’re fabulous. You be the judge.

More Kindergarten Art

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….this JK/SK class is like a giant sponge

I love teaching art to my kindergarten class. For the most part everything I teach them is absorbed and acted on by these eager learners. Last week I taught them how to draw their bodies that didn’t use stick figures.

I found this chart on Rowdy in Room 300 and used it with the class. I started with a blank chart and filled it in one square at a time to demonstrate how to draw a body.

They were given the option to take it one step further and draw a second body of their best friend. They were encouraged to draw what they were wearing and use the colours that best represented their hair and eye colour. I think they did an amazing job.

Our Monster Gallery

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..the grade 2/3 class finally got to make their ‘monsters’

I introduced this lesson before Hallowe’en but we hadn’t finished a couple of other projects and the Remembrance Day assembly was coming up and we needed to make our poppies so our ‘monsters’ were put on hold.

Our inspiration came from Mies van Hout’s book Friends. She’s a wonderful artist from the Netherlands who likes to use oil pastels on black paper. Before we started I demonstrated how to draw a random shape and from that come up with a monster. I explained to the class that if they have a monster in mind they are more likely to experience disappointment if it doesn’t turn out the way they envisioned it. Most of the class trusted my instructions and created very interesting and ‘fun’ monsters.

Children’s Poppies on Remembrance Day

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….we’ve been busy at school making all sorts of poppies to decorate the gym for our Remembrance Day assembly

Share Your World – Week 45

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….week 45?…. are there really only 7 weeks left in the year?

What is your favorite color?

Easy, peasy! Red

In what do you find the simplest of joys?

I find great joy in a good book, quiet time at the cottage, conversations with my husband, getting lost in creating new art and hugs from my students.

Would you prefer a reading nook or an art, craft, photography studio?

If I can’t have both I’d have to choose an art studio. I need a place where I can put out my supplies and leave them out and not worry about putting things away because company is coming or family is staying overnight and need to sleep where I currently do my art.

What is at least one of your favorite quotes?

I don’t know who said it first but I believe in “live in the moment”.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for time with family. The memorial for my aunt and my daughter’s birthday brought together the family for two days. Some family members I see regularly but others only occasionally and it was nice having everyone together even if it was only for a couple of days.

This week I’m looking forward to our annual Remembrance Day service at school. Everyone has worked very hard to make the day special and if it’s anything like other years it will be a very touching and memorable day.

I’m also looking forward to spending some time with friends and going to another concert put on by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. On Saturday or Sunday I’m also entertaining a young man (J’s 7 year old nephew) by taking him to the ROM. It’s always fun taking children to the museum.

For more Share Your World posts check out Cee’s photography.

Monster ‘Friends’

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….Mies Van Hout has illustrated and written a wonderful book called Friends

Image borrowed from:http://cache1.bdcdn.net/assets/images/book/medium/9781/9359/9781935954231.jpg

This week I read Mies Van Hout’s book Friends to many of my library classes. I shared the book with my kindergarten class and instructed them to create and draw their own monster. We started with a free hand blob, turned it around and decided which end was up. They then added eyes and any other features they wanted to make a unique monster. They were encouraged to add a lot of colour using oil pastels. Considering that these children are only 3 to 5 years old I think they did a fabulous job. Enjoy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Creating New Colours and Turning Them Into Bugs

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..after learning about primary colours the kindergarten class mixed two primary colours together and voila! …… instant bugs

Of course it was more than that. When two primary colours (red, blue, yellow) are mixed together you get secondary colours (purple, green, orange). The object of the lesson was to see which two colours made each secondary colour.

Each student was given three small squares of watercolour paper and the three primary colours in watercolour. They were instructed to put two different colours on each half of their paper and while it was still wet, fold the paper in half and press hard. When they opened the paper they discovered that they had made a new colour.

This part of the lesson took an entire period so we put the squares aside to dry and in the next class we looked at the shape on the square of paper and cut it out and glued it onto a piece of construction paper. I had no idea how difficult this step would be for so many of the students. They had no idea how to hold a pair of scissors, never mind cut with them. After some trial and error, everyone managed to cut out at least two bugs.

Once they were glued down, the students were given markers and were encouraged to add details to their bugs, things like eyes, legs, wings, antennae, etc.. Here are a few of the finished papers. Enjoy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Meet the Leaf Man

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….in kindergarten we collected leaves and created these wonderful leaf ‘people’ and creatures

Lois Ehlert has written and illustrated a wonderful children’s book called the Leaf Man. She is a collage artist and writer and has illustrated the entire book with the use of leaves. Using her book as our inspiration the kindergarten children created their own leaf people during art class. They really enjoyed the process.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Lois Ehlert has illustrated and written many children’s books. This cute video is narrated by a little boy name Jonah. He’s actually reading The Leaf Man. Enjoy!