Don't miss the boat!

I'm certain you are already familiar with Deep Space Sparkle, the awesome blog created by Patty?  If you aren't, you're missing the boat!!
Here's a "Sparkle" lesson we did recently, and I loved the results.  The messiness, in my opinion, made the artworks all the better.  Note* prepare your students to appreciate the messy results before they do the project.  We talked about the fact that prints can be more interesting when they're not perfect copies of the original.  (In the one class where I didn't have time to have that discussion, many kids were frustrated w/ the outcome of their prints.  My lesson learned, make time to have that discussion!)

As Patty said, the order of the painting is important to get the best prints.
(First fold paper in half before painting, this makes folding in half after painting easier.)
1. Paint dark blue ocean first
2. Outline boats and sun with light blue, then paint light blue sky around outlines.
3.  Paint sun.
4.  Paint boat(s).
5. Paint white sails.
6. Paint black outlines.
7. Fold over, open, and reveal.

Big thanks to San Benito Elementary students!

3D Cubes

This was super fun lesson I found on the School Arts Magazine website, and the lesson is credited to: Explorations in Art, Davis Publications, Grade 2.  I used it with grades 4, 5, 6 and the kids enjoyed it a lot.

Each child needs 12 rectangles, 2"x4".  (Note, a 12"x18" piece of construction paper will yield exactly 27 of these rectangles.  So the cutting doesn't take as long as it seems.) 

We decided to decorate our rectangles with black marker before building the cubes, but they can be built plain too.  (So, if you decide to decorate, do that before folding:)

Step 1:  Fold each rectangle, lengthwise, into a 90 degree angle.
Step 2:  *Glue 4 rectangles to form the bottom, then glue 4 rectangles to form the lid.
Step 3:  Glue 4 pillars to inside corners of the bottom.
Step 4:  Add glue to inside of lid. 
Step 5:  Place lid on outside tops of pillars.

*Tip- tell students to hold pieces together with their fingers for the count of "5" each time they glue a piece to another piece.

  Thanks to San Benito Elementary students!

Art Lesson - Collage

Art Tip:

Wrapping paper is great for making collages bright and fun. (And it's inexpensive when found at the Dollar Store.......also known as the "teacher store" by some of my friends.)

Matisse inspired collages.

Students are given instructions to create a house and a tree using collage technique. Once they have a house and tree, they may add anything else their heart desires.

San Benito Elementary artists

Red Cow? It must be Gauguin!

How wonderful to share with students Gauguin's colorful art where cows can be red, rivers can be pink, and trees many shades of blue.
"Art is either plagiarism or revolution." Paul Gauguin - French, 1848-1903

Now it's your turn to paint some landscapes using bright, unrealistic colors, just like Gauguin. San Benito Elementary Artists

One of my little Pop Artists

San Benito Elementary Artist
Kids love, love, love Pop Art!

San Benito Elementary artist

Kermit King Elementary Artist