Talk Peace Mural

This project started out as a quick idea and turned into a real community building experience. I was out to breakfast with my two year old, and browsing through a nearby bookshop when I noticed Talk Peace by Sam Williams. As always, it was the colorful collage that grabbed my attention. I was instantly touched by the message, and decided to use it to celebrate Martin Luther King Day with my classes. I printed out some of the lines from the book and then prepped some simple backgrounds to accompany the text. My students were free to add anything they wanted to help make the mural illustrate the message. The students really enjoyed the freedom to create, and were inspired by the book's illustrations. 

The kindergarten class cut out and created people of all different colors to celebrate our diversity. After discussing MLK's quote "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character", the 2nd and 3rd grade classes traced and cut out their handprints. They chose a character trait that they were most proud of, and wrote the trait on their handprint. It was great to see what each child was proud to share! I used both the people and handprints to surround more text from the book.

Finally, I painted a huge heart and put the mural up in our gallery space. All were invited to take a pledge to "talk peace" by signing the heart. This is one of my most favorite projects of the year so far. So many people helped create it, and many more signed the pledge!

The Dot

This is another must know children's author/ illustrator. Peter Reynolds writes some of my most favorite children's books including, The Dot. His books are engaging and uplifting. This book talks about a little girl who discovers some of her own talent after making a simple dot. My artists loved the book, and loved turning their dot into something special. 

After reading the book and talking about the little girl's journey, I gave each student a dot and a piece of paper. They were free to use any supplies on their tables, and were challenged to create an entire picture using the dot that filled the page. Once they were finished, they chose a background color to frame their picture on. They then used special scissors to embellish the edges of their frames. Finally, their masterpieces were hung right outside our studio for all to enjoy. 

Watercolor Snowflakes

This is a great project for Kindergarten. I prepped the paper ahead of time by tracing 9 circles on each page. As a class, we talked about how snowflakes are unique and about symmetry. I took some extra time to demonstrate how to paint with watercolors, keep a clean brush, etc. The students started by drawing their designs with white crayon, and then had a blast revealing their designs with paint. They also had fun watching the colors mix. Finally, I put a small bowl of kosher salt on each table for students to add to their wet paintings for great snow texture.

Snowmen At Night

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner is such a creative story with incredible illustrations. It is also a great jumping off point for snowmen paintings! After reading the story, we talked about the illustrations and how we could see colors in the white of the snowmen. The students then drew snowmen in action with oil pastels. They were encouraged to add lots of colors as an underpainting layer. When ready, each artist added the final "snow" layer with white tempera paint. Snowflakes were added with a q-tip. The only glitch I ran into with this project, is that some of the great details students wanted were painted over. To remedy this, artists redrew the eyes, mouth and nose, and added scarves, gloves etc with oil pastel once the paint was dry.