Spring/Stamping-Kindergarten

I am starting a lot of sentences with "I saw this thing on Pinterest" lately.  Well, in this case, I remembered I saw it, and I'm pretty sure it was on Pinterest, but I did not pin it (I was sure I had).  The center of the flower is stamped with a cheapo net bath "Pouf" which can be found at Wal-Mart 2/$1.00.  Then, we used Tempera Cakes to paint the rest of the details- the flower/stem, etc.  I had plates set up with some yellow and some orange, that naturally mixed when the kids stamped.  I am trying out the Tempera Cakes this year- other art teachers rave.  I am not so sure- they seem like watercolors.  Any thoughts on helping the kids achieve brighter colors?  That aside- I think these are pretty springy, and a nice attempt by my kids at a project that none of us had ever tried before.  Some may even make their way into the art show.

It's a Jungle in 3rd Grade

Continuing the garden type theme for the art show this year, I did   Jungles with 3rd grade.  We went to the link, we played the interactive (click on the link- NGA has some amazing interactives for art students) on the smart board, and we talked about Matisse.  Then, we began with the sky, and began to build up the jungle.  I taught how to make things "pop out" by using spacers behind, folding, or rolling, and we had an animal day as well, for which I broke out the watercolors and sharpies.  I think the results were good, however I am not sure the idea of overgrowth translated, despite my rallying cry that "no one mows the lawn in the jungle!  Ah well, they are pretty cute.  I  took the students to the computer lab and had them write a response to a couple of questions as an "artist statement" because I feel at the art show especially, that I increasingly need to show the correlation between art and the other subject areas.   Anyway- here's the sneak peek!