Spring Chicks

The primary classes in my school are hatching chicks this year.  I wanted to do a lesson on foreground, middleground and background so I used chicks as the theme.

The first part of the lesson was showing the kids where the foreground, middleground and background in a picture are.  Then we discussed how images up close in the foreground will appear larger and will have more detail.  In the middleground we discussed how the objects would be smaller then those in the foreground and smaller yet and with much less detail in the background.

I had the kids draw two lines (for the rolling hills).  I had them measure one hand from bottom to tip of their finger to show where to start the first hill.    After drawing it in pencil they traced over the lines in black marker.

Next they were to draw at least two large chicks in the foregound.  To draw the chick I told them to either draw and egg or a watermelon slice for the body, next put a head, beak and legs on it.   They traced the chicks in black marker.   We discussed the texture of a chick.  How the feathers feel... what they look like.  I showed them how a piece of torn construction paper looks feathery around the outside rather then blunt when it is cut.  The kids used little pieces of torn yellow construction paper to completely cover the chicks in the foreground.  The effect is great!  We talked again about how objects closer to thme in the foreground would have more visible detail.   They coloured the beak in orange and used black marker for the eyes.

Next, they drew chicks in the middleground.  The chicks had to be smaller and were coloured in (pushing hard) with pencil crayon.  The kids were then to colour the hills lightly with green pencil crayon.



For the chicks in the background, the kids used paint.  The dipped one finger in yellow paint and used a fingerprint for the body and then used their pinky finger for the heads. 

After the paint had dried, they used a black marker to draw eyes, beaks, and feet.  They drew and coloured in clouds.  Such cute little pictures and lots of learning too :)
 



Popcorn, Pasta and Cheerios!

A quick craft to keep the kids busy at home on yet another rainy day.  The results aren't the best and I think we will paint them next and add glitter etc.  The kids had a blast doing this craft but ate as much as they used in their pictures.  If I were doing this at school, I would bring lentils and some more colourful cereal.

We started by drawing a picture in black marker.  This one is outerspace:

Then we went over the black lines with white glue:

I raided the cupboard for a popcorn, pasta and cheerios!

Then we covered the glue. 

The next step will be painting our masterpieces and adding glitter :)

If this rain keeps up, we will be finishing it tomorrow....

Funky Crochet Coasters



I decided to make some funky new coasters out of some left over cotton yarn.  They look very cute and would make a creative hostess gift.  This pattern is very easy.  If you are new to crochet, it is easiest just to keep it a solid colour.  I have added the colour changes that I used but they could be changed in any rows you choose.

FUNKY CROCHET COASTERS

chain 3,   slip stich in first ch to form a ring.

Row 1:  8 single crochet (sc) in ring

Row 2:  2 sc in each sc (16 st)

Row 3:  *1 sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat 7 times (24 st)

Row 4:  *sc, sc, 2 sc* repeat 7 times (32 st).  Sl st in next stitch.  Ch 1 to hold stitch.  Cut leaving about an inch and a half length of yarn.

Row 5:  Join next colour  *sc, sc, sc, 2 sc* repeat 7 times (40 st)  Sl st in next stitch.  Ch 1 to hold stitch.  Cut leaving about an inch and a half length of yarn.

Row 6:  Join next colour  *sc, sc, sc, sc, 2 sc* repeat 7 times (48st)  Sl st in next stitch.  Ch 1 to hold stitch.  Cut leaving about an inch and a half length of yarn.  Turn coaster over and tie off loose strands. 



Fat Frogs on a Skinny Log

I love finding fun art projects from books we've read.  I have a great book called "Fat Frogs on a Skinny Log" by  Sara Riches.  If you don't have this book you could read another frog story or simply ask them to imagine what would happen if a bunch of fat frogs all tried to jump on the same slippery log.

We began with a large piece of white paper and coloured it in with light and dark blue pastel.



Next the kids were given a brown piece of construction paper and were to cut out a log.  They coloured it in with brown, black, orange and green pastels.

I handed all the kids a white square of paper for drawing their frogs.  I took them through a simple drawing of the frog but let them be creative and make changes if they wanted to make it more unique.

I let the kids make 2 to 5 frogs to put on the log.  I told them to vary the expressions of the frog.  One could be happy to be on the log, the other could be angry to have to share the log.   Once the frogs were drawn, they outined them in black marker and coloured them in with pencil crayons.  When cutting the frogs out, I showed the class how to cut around the frog leaving a little bit of white so that the eyebrows and toes weren't accidentally cut off and showed up better with a little edging to them. 

The next step was to glue the frogs on the log.



Then I had the kids add a lilypad (draw a heart with a rounded bottom).  they drew it on white paper and coloured it in with pencil crayon, then added some yellow pastel.  I showed them how to make water drops and shading under were the log tipped up from the weight of the frogs.

 

Eric Carle Flowers

I found some fabulous discarded wallpaper sample books to use for my Eric Carle collages.  You could also use painted paper, wrapping paper etc..   We started by reading The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. We discussed collage and how the pictures were made. 

 Then the kids made a rough drawing of their flower and went to work digging through the wallpaper books to find cool paper for their picture.  I had no idea how much they would LOVE flipping through wallpaper books showing each other the funky colours and textures.

This is a fun Spring project that fit in well with "April Showers Bring May Flowers!".  You could also make butterflies, caterpillars etc..  A fun art project!