Pumpkin Batik and Leaf prints

I LOVE Fall! I get really giddy when it comes to Fall art! Last year we left a pumpkin on the front porch until it was no bueno and we had to dispose of it. The pumpkin left behind a friend in the crack of the stairs on the front porch that grew into a massive pumpkin plant this summer! We loved our pumpkin plant and even named her! (Raspucia) We tended to her with such care through the drought in hopes of a pumpkin patch by Halloween! Sadly a pumpkin grub recently got inside the vine and completely hollowed it out. I got a text from my neighbor the day we cut her down…everyone was quite fond of her.

I even used my beautiful “Raspushia” as a backdrop for a newborn photo-shoot looking all like the Great Pumpkin in her Fall Harvest Glory!

Every Year I paint pumpkins with at least a few grades and this year we are making a Pumpkin crayon batik! I played around with different ideas for the background. I modified this lesson from a Paul Klee Fish Batik I got from my friend Haley Ann, an art teacher in my district!

First, draw a pumpkin and color very hard with crayons

Then crumble it up

Paint with India Ink

Rinse in the sink

And Voila!

I managed to save some of Raspucia’s leaves for my Fall projects!!

LEAF PRINTS!!! One of my favorite Fall activities! Fun for ALL ages! Last year we made leaf print turkeys! http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/search/label/leaf%20print%20turkeys

My daughters made these leaf prints with their friends a few weeks ago!

For the Batik background we used construction paper and magazine squares to create an interesting pattern background

Outline with black chalk

And paint Tempera Varnish on top

We glued pieces of cardboard under the pumpkin and leaves to create a 3d effect

I cannot wait to post more of our Fall Fun projects!

TeacherMonuments (continued)

These are the finished product of our Teacher Monuments from a previous post..http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/search/label/Monuments

Students worked in groups and wrote a note on the back of why they chose each teacher.

Here is my lovely Monument to me!! SO SWEET!!

The note reads, “We respect Mrs. Wagenspack because she is nice and fun and she help us do art and she is very smart at doing art. Thank you Mrs. Waggenspack. She help us make a moon and fuyer fruys (Fire flies) I Love Mrs. Waggenspack

Below are our principals! Snazzy!

Happy Columbus Day

Kinder and First Grade Very Hungry Caterpillars

I found this idea on pinterest from this great blog http://iheartcraftythings.blogspot.com/2011/07/story-time-very-hungry-caterpillar-with.html

We used colored paper used colored paper to make the food for their caterpillars. They used hole punchers to make the holes he’s nibbled out. The kinder used crayons to draw his food!

I LOVE glitter!! I covered these guys in sparkles!!

Animals, and a Cutting Lesson

I try to keep my lessons child led to keep a sense of wonder, interest, and inspiration in the classroom. Last week when this class came in, I asked them what THEY wanted to paint. I got such a mix of puppies, dragons, bunnies, etc. So I decided to do ALL of them. I let the kids work in groups to pick an image off google and trace it on aLARGE piece of butcher paper. They painted their huge pictures the first day.

The next week I covered their tables with feathers, pipe cleaners, gold wire, oil pastels, lots of colored paper scraps, glitter,glue, scissors, hole punchers, fabric scraps, and yarn. They went to town and had SO MUCH FUN! I love how the Chihuahua has a purse with lipstick, a feather boa, and a cell phone!

Disclamer: (insert controversial art teacher topic here)  if you freaked out when I said the word trace, you heard it correctly. I let them trace the image from my LCD projector. If you think kids cannot be creative with tracing here is your proof. Doing projects like this allows for PLENTY of creativity, and gives the child a sense of pride in their work. We very rarely if ever trace in my class, but once in a while a project like this gets the kids excited! It allows them to use a variety of different materials, and learn to collaborate and work together as a team to create a group masterpeice!




Easy Kinder Cutting Lesson
My 3 yr old likes to CUT CUT CUT all day long!   I gave a her a laminated piece of paper and let her cut for about thirty minutes.


She told me she wanted to make a giraffe, so I took some of the pieces and made them into a girraffe…so simple!

She gave him button eyes and drew a mouth

She was so proud of the giraffe that she even slept with him that night!!

Last week, we made a monster. She wanted the left over pieces she cut to be placed in a “purse" (ziplock bag) for “Monsterina” to keep!

Rain!!

Well it FINALLY RAINED in Houston!!! I freaked out when I saw these crazy awesome clouds yesterday! It has inspired lots of rain projects for the next few weeks. Fourth and Fifth are working on some amazing paintings right now that I can’t wait to post next week. So I am thinking of ideas for our next project!  Here is my example using a picture of yours truly! I am really enjoying the photo/paintings and the kids are LOVING it!

Take photo and print. Use liquid watercolors and a straw

Turn the paper every time you want the drips to change direction. The tiny straws work better for this