Owls in the Night

In Sights and Sounds of the Seasons we were inspired by this fabulous art lesson from Deep Space Sparkle of Torn Paper Owls.  To begin, I read excerpts from Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, which tells the story of a girl who goes owl sighting with her father on a cold winter's night to see her first owl. 


As we enter a time of more nighttime, owls are more likely to be spotted since they hunt at night since most are nocturnal.  We learned about different features of owls that make them unique including their huge, staring eyes and their little ears that provide them with their keen hearing.  The children also agreed that while they're cute, owls can be quite scary, especially since they have the ability to fly almost silently.   We talked about how their soft flight feathers muffle the sound of their wings making them excellent nighttime hunters. 

This project was completed in one hour and used the following materials:
18"x12" Dark Blue Construction Paper
Oil Pastels-white, yellow, and black
Scraps of owl colors-brown, gray, white, black, orange, yellow
Precut circles in various sizes for the eyes (older students can cut their own!)
White glue
Scissors

1. To begin students learned how suprisingly simple it was to draw an owl. With black pastel start with two large circles for the eyes, add a triangle beak, then a head with little pointy ears.  Next add a large "U" for the body, and then legs and talons (the students loved this word!).  The wings can be drawn spread out in flight or perched. A branch could be added if the students wanted to.

2. White and yellow oil pastels were used to add stars, a moon, and/or clouds to the dark blue sky.

3.  Owl colored paper scraps were torn to make up the feathers of the owl.  We did the body and head the same color first, then the wings a different color (this helps them stand out).  Glue was added to the areas in sections and the feathers were added to cover all the blue paper.

4. Next students selected 3 different sized circles for the eyes (some chose to cut their own out). These were layed with the smallest on the top and largest on the bottom.  The eyes are the most important part of the owl so they have to stand out!

5. Beaks and legs were either cut or torn and then glued on.  The branch was also covered in torn paper at this time.

The students had a blast creating these very special owls and were proud to show them to their parents!

 
 

 

 

March Comes in Like a Lion

In Sights and Sounds of the Seasons we talked about the popular saying,

Wintertime Birdhouses

In Sights and Sounds of the Seasons we discussed how birds survive the brutal cold winters here in Pennsylvania.  Some birds, like geese, migrate south to warmer climates.  Some birds stay here and often choose birdhouses to stay warm. 

• To start, sharpies were used to draw a birdhouse and any decorations for the house (perch, hole, roof)
• Next the children used colorful tempera paints to paint their birdhouses.
• The next class students used colorful papers, feathers, and buttons to create birds to live in their special birdhouses. 
• Lastly, we used our figures to add crisp, white snow to our pictures.  Enjoy!

 

Eddie

 

Cullen

 

Jack

 

Chloe

 

Meredith

 

Maddy

 

Aidan

 

Megan

 

Miss Vanessa

Giraffes Can't Dance!

In Art Through Children's Literature we read a humorous and heartwarming story called Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae.  This book tells of the story of a clumsy giraffe named Gerald who's legs are too skinny.  The jungle is hosting a dance, and all of the other animals can do the tango, the waltz, and really groove.  Gerald isn't the best dancer and the other animals tease him and this makes him very sad.  A kind cricket plays Gerald some special music, and he realizes that sometimes if you're different, you just need a different song. 

 This story sends out a great message that you can excel and enjoy who you are even if, at first, the world does not play your tune. Additionally, it ecourages the validation and acceptance of a child who feels different--which is always a great message! Dance on!

Supplies:

White sulphite paper 12"x18" and 9"x12"

Colored Pencils

Tempera paint: blue, purple, white, green, yellow

Black Sharpies

Scissors

Glue Sticks

This project was completed in only two one hour sessions!

1. We began by creating a fabulous nighttime background for our giraffes to dance in.  First using cups, we traced a moon on 12"x18" white sulphite paper with a pencil.  Then in the bottom portion we drew a ground line where the grass would be/

2. Next we used purple, blue, and turquoise tempera paint to add a luxurious night sky.  We painted everything but the moon and grass.

3. We painted the moon white and then swirled the paint outwards to make the moon glow into the night sky.  We even added a few stars. 

4.  Then we painted the grass yellow. We counted to 100 together to allow the yellow to dry  and then added green paint on top. We turned our brushes upside down and use the ends to scratch in some grass texture. Some students were not present during this part, therefore, they used oil pastels on black paper to create their nighttime backgrounds.

Day two:

1. The next class we tackled the daunting task of learning how to draw a dancing giraffe.  We started with a simple oval shape for the belly.  I demonstrated how to make the giraffe dance in two poses, standing and doing a somersault.  Basically as long as the giraffe had 4 skinny legs, a long neck, and spots you were on the right track! 

2.  After drawing our dancing giraffes, we colored them with colored pencils using mostly yellow and orange. We outlined details like eyes, mouths and hooves in black sharpies.

3.  We carefully cut them out and glued them to our backgrounds. 

Here are our dancing giraffes--the children are so proud of these!

          Jake                                      Eddie

    Chloe                                            Victoria

   Gaia                                    Megan

    William                                    Yula

    Luke                                    Maddie

     Adric                                          Meredith

   Nicholas                                  Miss Vanessa

Creative Creatures

In Dynamic Drawing we discussed how making art and becoming a good artist requires much problem solving and tapping into our creative energies.  Just as one must practice, stretch, and condition to play a sport or become a good dancer, we must "exercise" our art skills to become better artists!  Using the following creative exercise worksheet, we were given the problem of using 12 artistic elements (simple designs) to make 7 unique and dynamic creatures.  These creatures or characters must interact within a specific scene or habitat.

1. Students used pencils to lay out their characters and their background scene. 

2. Next we practiced our colored pencil skills.  I stressed the importance of heavily laying down the pigment and coloring in the same direction. We also practiced blending colors that were close to each other on the color wheel to add highlights and shadows.  For example, yellow can make a realistic highlight on a green creature, while dark blue can make a great shadow.

3.  For the finishing touch and to make our creatures "pop" we used black fine tipped sharpies to outline.

Hailey

Grace

Gaia

Brayden

Heather

Kenna

Yula

Maggie

Anne

Natalie

Kenna (she did 2!)

Miss Vanessa

In the Small, Small Pond

In Art Through Children's Literature we explored pond life by reading In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming. In this vibrantly illustrated Caldecott Award Winner, we looked closely at the pictures to learn about all the different animals that live in and around ponds. This book travels through the seasons, and explains where animals go in the winter.  Each illustration features sounds that animals make such as splashing fish and wiggling tadpoles,  so it's a really fun book to read!

This project was fun, easy and only took one class!

Supplies:

11"x 15" Watercolor Paper

Oil Pastels
Watercolors

• After reading, each student picked an animal (or a few) that lived in or near a pond to draw using oil pastels on watercolor paper. 
• They were encouraged to add a pond habitat that included water, greenery, and a sky for their animals to live in. 
• We finished these pond paintings by adding watercolors to the water, sky, and land.

       








                          Gaia

                    
           


                            

                           Meredith

             

                            

                       Jake

                                        Eddie

              
                               Luke

                              Chloe

            William

                
                

                                Aidan

                   Megan

                               Yula

Miss Vanessa