A View of a Snowman

Well, it happened again.  It snowed!  That may not sound like a big deal, but when you've spent the last 5 years in the Seattle area, and then you move to Maryland, you get a little excited every time you see snow!  

 Last Sunday, we even got enough snow to make a little snowman.  Complete with a baby carrot nose and a bun (hey. . . we have all girls in our house).

And again today, Friday, it snowed!  It has even stayed cold enough all week that our little snowman friend is still there. . . Well, almost. . . 

Seeing our poor little snowman friend reminds me of my all-time favorite snowman art project: 

A View of a Snowman!

I did this project with 4th graders.  I think it would be best for 3-5th.  We started by talking about perspective and point of view in art.  The goal was to draw the same snowman from 2 different perspectives.  I gave each student two 8x8 squares of paper.  I told them to imagine what their snowman looks like, including some details like a scarf, hat, or earmuffs.  Then they got to work drawing with oil pastels.  

This was such a fun project, and the finished products were as unique as the kids were!  

Let's Talk Color!

When my kids were babies, we read books about colors.  We talked about what colors they saw as we walked through the neighborhood.  We pointed at colors in our home.  Color is one of the earliest concepts we teach kids.  So what better place to start teaching art than with color? 

I like to display this poster as a visual reminder of the elements of art, and of course, color is listed first!  

Let's start with a few lessons to get you started with primary and secondary colors!  

 OK Go has made a fun and catchy video that teaches the primary colors, and goes into the secondary colors that can be made from each:  https://youtu.be/yu44JRTIxSQ

Deep Space Sparkle is my go-to website for art lessons.  You can search the website by theme, grade level, or concept.  Here are a few primary color lessons from that site:

https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/primary-and-secondary-colors-art-lesson/

https://www.deepspacesparkle.com/colorwheel-clowns/

As a rule, I don't like mice, but I love the book Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh.  Here is an art project to go with it:

https://www.theartofed.com/lesson-plans/mouse-paint-color-wheel-free-lesson-plan-download/

This art project from Art Projects for Kids turns out so cute!

https://artprojectsforkids.org/mixing-colors-2/

Here's a hands-on activity to teach color mixing for preschoolers: 

https://www.giftofcuriosity.com/color-theory-activity-for-preschoolers/

Last, but not least, is a simple primary color project inspired by Piet Mondrian.  I cut the shapes out of red, yellow and blue paper.  The kids then picked some shapes and glued them onto their paper.  They finished the project off by painting black lines to separate the shapes.  

Here's to adding a little color to a Rainy Day!