Shoe Print Medallions

2nd & 3rd Graders learned that texture is one of the Elements of Art and can be visual (in drawings or paintings) or physical. After students felt many different textures in brown paper bags and used adjectives to describe them we started the project shown below. Students explored the textures on the bottom of their shoes, rolled clay into a ball and applied an even amount of pressure with the palm of their hands. Students then created a hole using a straw and carved their names on the backside. After the air dry clay dried students painted on a gold acrylic to really make the different textures shimmer!  

2nd Grade Sledders

We talked about all the fun things we could do outside in the wintertime here in upstate NY, sledding was among the favorite. We discussed the term slope and the angle of the hill. As you can see some of us have steeper hills then others! We used three popsicle sticks for our sled or toboggan. Our bodies were formed using the basic shapes of circles, squares, rectangles and ovals. We added details such as hair, hats, boots, coats and gloves. We "made it blizzard" by dipping a q-tip in white paint and dabbing our flakes. The last touch was adding a white glitter to the spots snow was being plowed by our sleds.  These are on display as one huge hill. 

Primary Colored Vases with Secondary Colors Shining Through

2nd & 3rd Grade

This was a great lesson for all. Students learned how to create symmetrical vases. We looked at actually bottles and analyzed their forms. We talked about the "lip of the bottle, the neck and the base." Students folded a piece of tracing paper in half vertically and traced half their vase. Students then traced through the paper to create the other side of their vase. Students transferred different vases, making sure to overlap them. Then came the exciting painting lesson! Students painted their first vase red, left the overlap blank in between, and painted their second vases yellow. Each student mixed their own orange and filled the overlap between the vase. The students painted their vases the primary colors and mixed the secondary colors for the parts of the vases that overlapped. After the paint was dry students decorated their vases using a different types of lines. 

1st & 2nd Grade Ornament Designs

For the Holidays this year student created their own radial designs for ornaments. We wrapped a square piece of cardboard with a shiny piece of foil, then traced a circle. We located the center of the circle and created a design from the inside-out using permanent markers. We discussed splitting the circle into segments and repeating patterns around the circle. A piece of square transparency paper was placed on top of the design and framed with black tape.