Tuesday 25 August 2015

What's in a name??






We have been having lots of fun with our names in art. We have explored a few projects that the kids just can't get enough of. The one thing I love about these projects is that the kids can do them on their own, and they keep trying them over and over to see what they can come up with.  When you are teaching art to your kids, teach them a new idea or concept, then let them have at it for a few weeks. Let them explore it until they they have truly explored it as much as they can. I love this project because all you need is printer paper and markers.

Here is how you do it:

1) You just need a regular old piece of printer paper 8.5 x 11. Fold one corner up and along the side to make a square piece. Or you could measure 8.5" on each long side and cut. (Then you could call that math for the day and give yourself a big ol' checkmark.) Either way, you need to start with a square piece of paper.

2) Now you need to fold that square. Fold in half one way, then open it up and do it the opposite way so that you have a +. you have four sections on your page. Then fold it corner to corner, unfold, and do the opposite two corners. You now have and X over your +. total of eight pie shaped pieces.

3) In one of the triangular shapes you need to draw your name in thick lettering, making sure each letters touch both the top and bottom of the line. I started in the middle and worked out to the wide end. Try a combination of upper and lower case letters, or even cursive. (Then you can check writing off your list for the day too!)

4)trace your name in black marker, making sure that  YOU DO NOT TRACE ALONG ANY FOLD LINES.  Just leave these blank, that way your design will run nicely together.

5) Here's the fun part. fold the paper anyway you like so that the marker part is under one of the blank sections. making sure that you are ALWAYS TRACING ON THE SAME SIDE, (so that all marker is  on the same side of the page) trace what you just drew onto the blank triangle. Continue until all triangles are complete.

6) Now you just have to color your design with markers, crayons, or whatever medium you prefer. You can do alternating patterns, all different colors, a black, white or multi coloured background.

The kids love this project, and have many examples to share with you!




See if you can guess all the names in these projects! 

As usual, this isn't an original idea with me. I found it on Pinterest. I LOVE pinterest. If you want to see what I am pinning on there I have and 'art for kids' board. You are welcome to check it out for more art ideas.



Friday 19 June 2015

Teaching art appreciation in your homeschool

It has been a while since my last post, and I found this free program from freehomeschooldeals.com that I just had to share. I hear a lot of moms say that they feel like they can't teach art, that they feel completely unqualified. I understand that feeling (although in different areas). This curriculum that I found will help you teach principals and techniques that famous artists used and also give them a bit of world history and geography as well. You can create a mini timeline to see when the art was created, as well as provide a world map and help your children find where all the artists were from, and where they ended up. Did I mention it was FREE?? That's always a good thing in my books!







This curriculum teaches:

- about each piece of art, the artist, and what techniques the artist used.

-elements of art

-periods of art

-color theory

-principals of design

-art terms

-provides a recommended reading list

You can find this free download HERE.