Kindergarten Pumpkins

If you've been teaching for any amount of time, you know that the pumpkin lends itself so well to the art room at this time of year.  It's easy enough to draw, the kids have likely visited the farm or pumpkin patch, and it translates to Halloween or Fall- whichever way  you prefer to go.  I had my kiddos use black paint only to trace a pumpkin that they had drawn on the 1st day.  On the 2nd, I gave them other colors, and we filled in.  I used tempera cakes, as my kids are still learning the painting routine.  They are so bright and cheerful- I'll have to post a few more, but here's a couple.  On a side note, I read them "Spookley, the Square Pumpkin" which I understand is a cartoon movie now, but the book is so sweet.

Fall Trees and A Rootin Tootin Art Class

 Just a little Fall Fun with my Kindergarten Class- we learned about Warm Colors, as we talked about Fall/Autumn.  A simple tissue paper collage (with a little glitter in the medium) made a lovely fall background for our torn paper trees.  We talked about outlines, and we looked at assorted leaves before drawing leaf outlines over the tissue.

So, my 2nd graders and I have been indulging in a couple of Western Themed art project.  I saw this on Pinterest, and just knew I had to give it a go.  We made "Wanted" posters.  We talked about the old time need for accurate portraits, and I demonstrated how to make a head and shoulders portrait.  We also brainstormed Cowboy details, like hats, badges, vests, bandanas- you get the idea.  The kiddos did a great job with their self portraits.  We attached them to brown paper, and worked on lettering "WANTED" along with thinking up cowboy names, and crimes.  I wanted to steer clear of actual crimes, so we chatted about humor, and exaggeration.  Our crimes are things like running in the hall, spilling milk, and reading too many library books. And, of course, we needed to offer a reward.   If you found one of my rascals, you'd be set for life going by the prices my kiddos set. I'll be honest, the writing took the better part of a class- it was a great opportunity to talk about lettering, contrast and size though.  What I did was I gave each student a card, and as they needed something spelled, I wrote it on their card.  This saved me from writing every word on the board, and allowed me to circulate better.  Today's class had a high ratio of English Language Learners- I'll be curious to see how the other classes do with the writing. We had a great time Cowboying it Up, and it was a fresh look at Self Portraits.  Thank you to whoever I pinned the idea from-it's a keeper!