Last week the Picassos looked at the struggles of Horace Pippin and his determination to get back to painting after injuring his arm. (He took 3 years to complete his first painting after his injury!) They created pictures of themselves sitting at their easels and imagined what they would be painting and conjured up their fantasy bedrooms/art studios! See the first part of this lesson here. This week they painted them and they are just dreamy!
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The Picassos were introduced to the artist Horace Pippin and I used the book A Splash of Red to tell the story of his life and give them an idea of the man and his art. Horace overcame his poor upbringing and even survived a war albeit with an injured arm but none of that could keep him away from his love of art! He found a way to prop his injured arm so he could still draw and he worked and worked until it got stronger and he was brave enough to exhibit his paintings even though he had no formal art training and his work eventually made him famous! This story is meant to highlight that everyone's journey is different and really gives the children a chance to be quiet and imagine. (Something that can get lost in a world full of distractions!) They looked at some pictures of his art and then they started drawing from their imaginations... which is what Horace did! They all started off with the shape of an easel on their paper and they were tasked to imagine the rest of the art piece. What would they be painting on their easel? What would their room look like? Take a look at the start of their imagination pieces... Next week they'll complete them with paint! This adorable little book celebrates the creative process with simple but powerful descriptions and really beautiful illustrations. Marisol is at first worried that she won't be able to paint the sky because she has no blue paint, but then she discovers that the sky can be almost any colour depending on when you look up! After hearing the story the Doodlebugs really understood that the sky doesn't have to be blue and then we talked about what kinds of colours we might use to paint the sky! Then they got down to creating their watercolour skies which turned out really quite beautiful. They also drew and coloured a picture of themselves arms outstretched and cut and stuck it onto the background to mimic the last picture in the book! My doodlebugs are between the ages of 4 1/2 and 6 so it goes without saying that they jump at any chance they get to move and shake! We don't usually start art class with a dance but today was a class with a difference! They listened to this catchy little sing a story called The Really Silly Robot and they all got up and tried to do the wiggle, squiggle, shake, shake! It was hilarious LOL. Then we discussed the parts we need to make a robot, namely a head, body, arms and legs. Now some of them are great with shapes and some need a little reminder but they all loved creating these crazy shape robots!They all created a dancing robot but we approached it differently according to their age. My 4 and 5 year olds traced and cut out their robot part and really worked those fine motor skills, while my 6 year olds drew their robots and we discussed the shapes they could choose from and how to position arms etc to make the robot look like it was moving and shaking lol! Check them out as they piece together their robots and learn all about shapes in the process! This morning, our last class for the term (gasp... where did the time go?!?) I did another read aloud for my Doodlebugs! This time our story was How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss and boy oh boy was this a hit! Some of them knew the story but a few were hearing it for the first time and it was a joy to see them go through all the emotions that this rhythmic fun little story brings to the fore! They were shocked that the Grinch didn't like Christmas... why Miss why??, then they were angry he wanted to spoil it for the Whos and finally they were thrilled that he came round in the end! I asked them to describe the Grinch before his heart 'grew' and they gave me words like, mean, selfish, and angry... all pretty accurate I think. Then I asked them what they thought the Grinch learned from the Whos and they said, "that Christmas is not about presents, that it was about friends and family!" Couldn't have asked for a better answer really!! They made some adorable little Grinch heads for our art project which was of course a total hit! I thought I would usher in Christmas at the studio by reading this great little book "A Bucket of Blessings". While it is not a Christmas story it certainly has some beautiful lessons that tie in well with the season of giving. In the story they see that one person ( or monkey ha ha) can make a big difference just by doing something relatively small and it also underscores that you can find great joy in helping others. Of course, the colours are vibrant and the pictures appear textured so it is very visually appealing. They created the peacock from the story using a collage technique which they approached in the manner of a puzzle! Lots of fun and lots of learning and the art isn't too shabby either! I just love this book! It's an adorable story of Gerald the Giraffe who is self-conscious about his dancing because of his long skinny legs, but by the end of the book Gerald is jigging and jiving and he's forgotten all about his legs, he found his own way to dance... which is a lesson we can all benefit from, both big and small. The story is told in such a rhythmic voice that the kiddos were actually leaning forward in their seats, (so cute) and this style makes it easy for little ones to follow so by the end they were all cheering for Gerald! Hooray... "we can all dance when we find music that we love!" This project is also packed with lots of steps for my little Doodlebugs that are meant to strengthen their motor-skills and improve their hand-eye co-ordination and the end result is so precious! Definitely one for the halls of fame parents ;) Interested in art class? 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It's the first day of art class and my Doodlebugs are just back out to school after the looooooong vacation, so I wanted to start off with an entertaining little story but this Eric Carle gem is not just fun it also has a great message! Not to mention it's Eric Carle so the illustrations are terrific! The little Hermit Crab has outgrown his shell and needs to find a bigger one, much like all of my little Doodlebugs who have just either started 'BIG school' or moved up into Second Year Infants! At first he is frightened and a little nervous but as the story goes on he gets more and more excited at all the possibilities for his new home and he makes a lot of new friends! It's easy to see the parallels :) My little friends were all eager to share how they felt on their first day of school and after our little chat they were excited to draw and paint the hermit crab! Interested in art class? Join the Mailing List and you'll be notified in time for our next registration. We'd love to meet your little artist!
This is such a ridiculously fun little book that it is hard to imagine it getting any better, but when it's put to song and you throw in a few big dinosaur toys in the mix for props... then you get a class that is truly a riot! The Doodlebugs were dancing and jumping but they all took a good look at the different dinosaurs, especially my resident dinosaur expert! Then we got down to painting a scene from the Dinosaur Stomp! Take a look at our adorable dancing dinos! I'll say... that was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning :) I love using children's books as inspiration for art but I especially love when a book delivers the trifecta! There is a great moral, exposure to new words or an expansion of language skills and last but certainly not least the illustrations are eye-catching and really help to add depth to the story. This adorable little book delivers on all fronts. It explores the themes of diversity and individuality and reiterates the fact that we are all unique and special in our own way! It also uses lots of opposite words so before the story started I told the Doodlebugs to listen out for words that are opposites and they had to call a few out for me at the end. We also talked about what the story means and they got to say what it meant to them in their own words. Then of course we got down to painting our ocean backgrounds and they each decorated a few unique You Be You styled fish which they drew, cut out and stuck onto their ocean backgrounds! |
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Be a fly on the wall in our art room! Take a look at what we do, how we do it and the smiles that I get to see week after week :) Archives
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