Winter Rain Watercolor Resist

Am I the only one who is ready for this Winter to be over? Spring Break is right around the corner and we still have freezing temperatures here!! This week we have been looking at the ugly, freezing, dark skies and rain. We wanted to turn it into something beautiful!

Begin with a white crayon and draw the horizon line.

there should be a big emphasis on drawing OVALS instead of circles. Students figured out that you can see the white crayon BETTER when the paper in on their stool UNDER the table! 

So I let them draw on their stools! Can you see the white crayon in the picture?

 Some students added a rainbow, lightning bolt or other details

Then I swiped the ENTIRE paper with a wet rag to begin the wet on wet watercolor

I used Sargent Liquid Watercolor Magic for this. I use it ALOT because of the vibrant colors. We used turquoise, Blue, and black

Ovals should be very small at the top of the horizon, but gradually get larger as they go down the page. Use a straight edge for the rain drops. The must TOUCH each puddle

First, paint some large blue "blobs" on your paper. 

Then paint around the blue with black and watch it blend with the blue and the wet paper!!

I have some siblings at my school working on a special project and they painted the background with the rain idea and it turned out great!

Here is a link to the kind of watercolors I use for EVERYTHING! There are different sizes if you want a smaller set. You can put them in muffin tins or ice cube trays on the tables. You can see the link " liquid watercolors" on the sidebar to see many other projects I have used these with

Paper Mache (Easy button) Rainbow Heart Crayons and smelly markers

We have been making heart sculptures the past few weeks. Some kids used plaster craft which was really fun, but we ran out and the rest are using paper mache.

YiKES! Is the first word that comes to mind...however

it can be made very easy

FIRST, no more collecting and tearing newspaper..(that makes your fingers all gray and yucky).just use the  butcher paper (bullatin board paper) that way if they want a red heart, it is already red!

This stuff is THE BEST. Just add water and it turns into a whole lot of clear slime! I can fill four coffee cans full with one box. Dip the paper in the slime, stick on the armature, and smooth with hands. No more nasty flour and water concoctions that end up getting moldy.

Storage is always a problem (I have not solved yet) I have piles of heart sculptures everywhere but I LOVE them!

I put some of this pearlescent medium in the paste and it made their sculptures really sparkle!

On a side note, do you have buckets of od broken crayons?

For Valentine's Day incentives, why not pick up one of these silicon baking heart trays at the Target Dollar spot, simply wet crayons to make peeling the paper easy

fill trays

and stick them in the oven on 350 for about ten minutes, and VOILA!! I have been giving them as good behavior incentives and using them for a free draw station all week and the kids think they are SO AWESOME!

As for markers...I have recieved SO many emails about the Kid Smart 60 Day Cap off markers...they are no longer making them...

I now use these Mr. Sketch Watercolor SCENTED Markers. They have a good variety of colors, last a long time and of course they smell SO GOOD which incorporates the five senses which increases memory and brain connections!

the only draw back....speckled noses!!

Seeing Artloud with Your Heart

SO Excited to PUT the Blue DOGS on the blog soon! We are making Blue dog inspired Animals and let's just say I have a pile of paint stained clothes...we are making visual music to the eyes in here the past few weeks and George Rodrigue is our inspiration!!!
For now...I will leave you with this...
She came in with this little drawing inspired by something she saw on the internet and drawn at home...(I love when they draw at home)

ANd she LefT with ThIS....
I love when they use their imaginations to sing a song with their paintbrush!

I LOVE MY JOB!!!

AND here is my daughter with a friend she found "Stripe"

That inspired THIS painting "Blue Lizard"

Martin Luther King Jr. Rainbow

I thought of this lesson for our kindergarteners since we will be doing color mixing soon. I did it with my girls today on Martin Luther King’s birthday…what a perfect day to learn about “COLOR”

First we read the book, Martin by his sister Christine King Ferris

I asked my three year old…

“ What would Martin Luther King tell your class if he came to visit??”

“He would tell them no fighting, and no NO being mean because that makes us cry!!”

“He would tell us to share, and to love our sisters,

like how I love mine,

and to share.”

She also told me that Martin’s favorite color was pink, and that he probably loved to make art with his friends!!

I have a dream that one day… one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Today we mixed colors by holding hands…

We started by making red and yellow hand prints, then they held hands…

and mixed it up…….WOW ORANGE!!

Then blue and yellow…

They couldn’t believe when they made GREEN!!

Then red (I added a bit of pink) and blue….

PURPLE!!!!!

It was SO AMAZING they just kept staring at their hands!!

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr.!!

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.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Guess what! This blog was recently nominated by some of its followers for The Art of Education’s Award for Top Art Blogs of the Year! If you enjoy the blog, you can go to this LINK TO VOTE for Smart Class!! Make sure you check out the other links to other FABULOUS art blogs!!!