Winter birch trees - grade 6

I finally did my first ever birch tree lesson! These have been all over the internet for years, but I’ve always particularly liked this lesson by Deep Space Sparkle. I loved the final product her students achieved, but I changed a bit about the process.

We skipped the tape step, and I had students just directly draw their trees onto watercolor paper using pencil (pressing very lightly!) They added in a horizon line, and some chose to add a fence behind the trees. We talked a lot about perspective during this lesson – how to make certain trees appear closer to your eye (make them longer and thicker) and how to make certain trees appear farther away. They also sketched in where they were going to put their shadow (we talked about which direction the shadow would go based on where their sun was.) Finally, some students opted to include another fence in front. 

Students who had done the tiny fence in the background used a thin sharpie to trace the fence, just to make it simpler on them, rather than painting them. The drawing process took about 40 minutes, and when they came back the next day, it took them about another 50-60 minutes to paint their drawings.

The only rule they had to keep in mind when painting was that they couldn’t leave the snow white. They had to use a mix of shades of watery blues and browns to give their snow dimension. In terms of the sky, they could do whatever inspired them. Students used watercolors to paint, except for the final touch - a bit of acrylic white to make falling snow. For the shadows, some chose blue tones, while others chose purples or greys.

I really like how these turned out. I feel like you can see each of their different styles of painting – some are more abstract, some are very precise and clear. Some use literal colors, while others used bright imaginative colors. It’s really fun to see what they came up with!

Catching Snowflakes - grade 3

As you may have noticed, my past few projects have been decidedly winter themed, but I can't help it - today it was close to minus 40 with the windchill! I feel like I am just completely surrounded by winter and cold and snow right now, and it's definitely affecting my choice of art projects.

I originally saw this idea as a collage on artsonia but decided to have my grade 3's do them with pastels instead, just to get them drawing and coloring. They began by drawing the face (with the little button nose on top) then drew the scarf and body. Following that, they added in more details, such as the mouth, the hair, and the sweater pattern.

It just kills me how cute these are. I love the scraggly hair, I love the patterned sweaters, and I love the little teeth. They're just adorable.

 

Winter snow homes - grade 1/2

These past few weeks, we've gotten LOTS of snow, which is clearly now at the forefront of most kids minds. I wanted to do an art project with my grade 1/2's that was wintery and snow related. I found this adorable lesson online, which I decided to give a try. This was a really good project for the basic skills - cutting, gluing, and painting. The neatest part was seeing how they measured the triangle roofs relative to the shape of the house - they all had their own strategy to make the triangles "fit" to the roofs. I really love how these turned out! They're beautiful, and perfect for the season.

 

These took 2 classes of 40 minutes to make. Super cute!!

Nutcrackers in golden frames - grade 1/2

 Here's a cute, simple project I did with grade 1/2, in the two weeks leading up to Christmas. I've always loved nutcrackers - something about their boxy faces and giant teeth that I just can't resist. I used the poster from the Nutcracker movie as inspiration for how to draw these simplified nutcrackers.

Students got to pick a frame from the Melissa and Doug picture frame pad (can't recommend this enough!) then sat down to begin their work. We did a group draw to make the exterior of the nutcrackers - students started with the heads, filling in the eyes, mouth, nose and mustache, then traced straight lines down to the edge of the paper to make the bodies.

When they were finished adding in buttons, lapels, and any other details, they traced their drawing with thin Sharpie. Even though we use Sharpies all the time, the thin Sharpies were a big novelty for them. They were so excited to be using what felt like a pen in art class!

The next time they came to my class, they colored in their nutcrackers using markers. Very cute, very simple project!

Ugly holiday sweaters - grade 4/5

 This is kind of the project that never was. We started it with three Mondays left to go before Holidays. Students were given an outline of a sweater, predrawn, that they got to decorate using bold patterns, drawings, and lines, a la Ugly Christmas Sweater. By the end of the first period, most students had finished the drawing, which meant they could paint them with watercolor the next week, leaving us a final week to do a Christmas card or something for their parents.

Fast forward a week later - our first snow day of the year! Most students weren't there that day, and the ones that were sort of staggered in late. Anyone who came worked on their painting, but most of the drawings sat untouched on my art shelf. I recalculated in my head - the next Monday, the last week before break, the rest of the students could finish up their paintings and at least have those to bring home for Christmas.

The following Monday, guess what...ANOTHER snow day! Most of the same students were there, so they finished up their paintings and glued them on cute paper, but really, all told, maybe 6 or 7 kids finished? The rest are, still, sitting in a pile on my art shelf. *Sigh.* I do really love the ones that were finished, though!

Blended gradiant snowmen - grade 3

Snowmen make for fantastic drawing projects, because they're relatively easy for children to draw, and they lend themselves really well to gradient blending. I originally did a project similar to this last year with grade 5/6, but I decided to give it a try with grade 3 this year, and I'm really pleased with the results!!

I began by giving students a demonstration of how to blend using chalk pastels:

It took them 2 periods of about 40 minutes to finish, although some finished much quicker. They're so proud of how real their snowmen look!

Only two more weeks until Winter break!

Easy santas - grade 3/4/5

I feel like it's been forever since I've had the chance to update! This is due to many factors, including recieving some wonderfully distracting Christmas gifts (loom weaving kit, good books, etc.) and a much needed trip to Boston.

With all of that aside, I am going to try and start catching up on projects from the past month.

This one was a VERY easy art that I did with kids from grades 3-5. It was a simple project that took very little time, an was great for kids who were finished their work early.

They were given a Santa template, already drawn, and used Sharpies to color in various patterns all over the beard. Then, they colored in his had red, and used cotton for the hat and eyebrows. When they were done, they glued it onto fun Christmas paper. Very easy, and super cute results!