The Great Wave

Image via Wikipedia

This was one of those lessons that turned out better than I could have imagined. The kids were so excited about the subject matter. The giant wave, with the clawlike hands reaching toward the brave fishermen. Mt. Fuji in the background, with the Mt. Fuji wavelet mimicking Japan's most revered mountain. And of course the Yin/Yang symbolism and shape of the wave and the sky. (The 4th grade students doing this lesson knew all about Yin/Yang and were enthused to share with me their knowledge. Needless to say, the skateboard and surfing culture has given kids insight that I wouldn't have expected.)

Since this lesson was so well received, I decided to add it to my collection of PDF lessons available here. The lesson also includes a wonderful story about a time that Hokusai enlisted the help of "chickens" to create some art that earned him an honor among the Shogun military regime in Japan. Big thanks to San Gabriel 4th graders for their art enthusiasm!

Update - June 4, 2025....Here are some fun "knock-offs" of The Great Wave, or as some might call it these days, "Creative Dupes (duplicates)" of The Great Wave.

https://www.artmajeur.com/art-now/en/artworks/11003218/the-big-wave

Artist:  Aaron Kai

Artist:  Tony Fernandez

Artist:  Randal Roberts

Murals inspired by The Great Wave can be found ALL over the world... Keep your eyes open & I'm certain you'll find one!

Jackson Pollock for Kinders

Image by youngdoo via Flickr

My friend, Dana Owens, teaches art at Kinder-Camp, at Georgia Brown Elementary.
I was delighted when she shared her pictures of her kinders doing their version of "Jackson Pollock" art. Instead of brushes, they "squirted" on their paint. After the paper dried, the kids practiced their cutting and shapes skills by cutting out large circles. The circles were then put together to create a class caterpillar.






Jackson Pollock art is fun to do in the classroom too. One idea for keeping down the mess, is to place the paper inside an open box. Kids can splash to their hearts content and the mess stays inside the box. (Ha, usually.)

Simple Seahorses

Simple seahorses today!

Add some watercolors, and sponge paint the sea, et voila!

A Blog Carnival of Art Projects

Miss Julie's Place is featuring her first "Blog Carnival of Art Projects for Kids". You'll definitely want to check it out. How gracious of her to feature lessons from other art teachers; I submitted my "Dali" art lesson. ALSO, you can enter to win a very cool prize, just by leaving a comment!!

Art Pals

They idea of Pen Pals is so much fun, and getting to know a "stranger" has been a classic way for teachers to teach letter writing skills.
Many years ago, my husband facilitated "Art Pals", through the use of his technology skills. He simply posted some messages on internet bulletin boards and set up an art exchange program for the art class at his school.
The response was phenomenal and so enlightening. Kids felt like they got to know other kids' perceptions in different parts of the world.

Here is some of the artwork received back in 1992:

From students in Japan

From students in Russia. All Russian students were age 11.