Wait a Minion...is that SNOW??!!

I think it's been settled, I need to turn 25 more often.  TWO SNOW DAYS THIS WEEK!  As I'm currently at home enjoying the snow, fireplace, and coffee I thought it to be fitting to share these guys with you. 

I was inspired by this lesson here, but to be honest I was a little burnt out on snowmen.  So I thought... what would 3rd graders love to make to explore perspective drawing different points of view?  Easy...MINIONS.  For some students it was challenging for them to think about creating the same minion each time, just standing in a different way.  This was also seen when we were using markers to color in, "So if I color this one yellow can I color the next one purple?" It took some of them awhile to grasp this concept.  Nonetheless, I think they are so fun and funny!

I let the students mount their Minions themselves.  I wanted to make sure they were able to position them the way they wanted.  It's funny to see the one's that kind of just slopped it on and the others who took time on positioning their drawings.  

Well, I'm off to enjoy the snow!  And if you were lucky enough to have the day off too (and have a little extra time) head on over to East Art Room and read Tim's interview with me!

Oh yeah, and remember these 5th grade minion sculptures from last year? Check those out too.

It's a Winter Wonderland

CAUTION: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE MAY OVERLOAD YOU WITH IMAGERY

This winter (starting in November) has really brought in some cool temperatures for us.  The little snow that we've had is long gone because of a couple of 60 degree January days--weather man when is the next big snow storm?  But really when I was a kid growing up in the 90s snow forts, sledding, and snowmen were a regular phenomenon.  And when I say snow I MEAN SNOW. Nebraska hasn't seen a real snow fall (over a foot) since 2009.  I wear my snow boots with pride, even without snow, but every once in awhile they like to meet up with an old friend too (so bring back that 90s snow).   

Anywho, here are a few of the winter themed projects done by the primary grade students throughout the season.  

This is a lesson I did last year with kindergarten.  But instead of just using blue construction paper students made some painted paper to use instead. And WOWSER I love this version! There is just something about that added texture and dimension the background gives.

And who doesn't love a good snowman massacre?  I also had another one that I didn't get a picture of, but let's just stay my buddy P got a little heavy handed with the red oil pastel--there was quite a scene.

Kindergarteners made these fun little penguins too:

1st graders had a lot going in.  It seemed like whenever there was an early out, "cold day," assembly, or I had a sub a 1st grade was hit.  So each class had about a zillion things going on and ALL OF THEM were different.  

With this lesson, that most started, we explored how you could create space.

The idea for this lesson was sparked by another elementary art teacher in the district.  Using the primary colors students mixed colors to create a rainbow.  The teacher I got the lesson from then had her students draw snowmen on top of the background, I wasn't really feeling the snowmen vibes so I went with a polar bear instead.

and to finish it off this group was just out of wack with our schedule so why not draw OLAF????

But really 1st graders drew these.  Are you amazed? Because I am

Here's another lesson I did last year and again this year with 2nd grade, it's quite popular in the Pinterest community and brings a lot of traffic my way.  I really enjoy doing this lesson, it gives a fresh take to the snowman or as I like to call him the SNOWcone.  

Maybe one day I'll have so much free time on my hands that I'll be able to illustrate and write a children's book--I think this guy would be my main character.  Have any good character names?

More Adapted Art Lessons

This penguin lesson was a spin off from the 1st grade penguin lesson.  To make the snowflake background I had a foam printing sheet that I had made snowflakes in and they used silver printing ink to print onto a piece of paper.  We used stencils to create the penguin.

This was our Valentine's lesson.  Using contact paper I cut out a heart shape and put it on the piece of paper.  Using bright green, blue, and yellow students simply painted the paper.  Using hearts made from oak tag paper students printed with purple paint over top.  At the end we peeled off the heart to see the surprise!  

1st Grade Funky Penguins

1st graders created these beautiful pieces in two classes.  On day one of the lesson I mixed up some watered down tempera paints and students were to create a background.  I gave them very little instruction on this step and just let them go.  For the most part students did a very nice job filling the space, not leaving white spaces, and not having colors run together.  It was a great exercise for paint/brush control.  On the first day of the lesson we also talked a little bit about texture. Rather than just using black construction paper students painted a small piece of paper with black and added in the Crayola Mixing Medium "Pearl it" or "Glitter it."  Using texture scrapers, forks, ends of paintbrushes students created texture on their small piece of paper.

On Day 2 we focused on creating our penguin which took the entire class.  Students were given three pieces of paper the painted black piece, a painted orange piece, and a small white piece of paper.  We drew step by step together the parts of our penguin, students cut them out and started assembling the pieces.  If students had time they were able to select from the "funky paper bin" to make a hat, scarf, mittens, or other winter accessory they wanted to make.

2nd Grade "Snowman Scoops"

The inspiration for this lesson came from this ornament I have had hanging on my tree for many years.

As the winter months come around most every grade creates some sort of snowman in their classroom.  I challenged myself to think of a different way students could make their snowman. This year as I was putting up the Christmas tree it came to me.  Let's make snowman scoops!    I did this lesson with 2nd graders and they loved the idea of making their snowman into an ice cream cone.  This was a very simple, successful two day lesson.

On Day 1 we drew three "snowman scoops" and a cone.  Students then watched me demonstrate how to paint in the snowman.  Students talked about how my snowman looked real and we problem solved together why it looked the way.  The answer was shadows and with that we talked a little bit about making drawings and paintings look lifelike by using value and shadow. 

To paint the scoops we used white paint first. Without rinsing paintbrushes we dipped a little bit into the light blue and painted our shadow about 1/4 of the way making a crescent shape. Using dark blue paint we went around the edges of the light blue.   Then, using a paper towel students wiped off any excess paint and dipped it in the brown  for the cone.  To add a highlight they dipped their paintbrush in the white.

On Day 2 using a combination of sharpie marker, oil pastels, and colored pencils students added all details to their snowman.  I drew on the board for them different accessories their snowman might be wearing like hats, mittens, scarves, etc.

They turned out so fun!

Teacher Sample

4th Grade Value Snowmen

I borrowed this lesson from here.  When I saw it I knew I had to try it out! Originally this was a lesson done with 2nd graders, but with my 8 day rotation this would have taken 2nd graders quite a long time to finish up so I tried it out with my 4th graders.  They took us three classes to finish.

Day 1: We discussed tints, shades, and value.  Students painted their background choosing between blue or purple. 

Day 2: Students painted the snowy ground and snowman using white, blue, and silver paints.

Day 3:  Using colored pencils students added all details to their snowmen.

Here are some of the results.  I love the simple elegance of every single one.

Basketball playing snowmen. Love it!

I had to share this one. The middle snowman is holding a taco and wearing a sombrero.  Don't you just love the way kids minds work?

Note the cougar/cheetah.