Symmetrical Butterflies Lesson

Second grade studies butterflies-the life cycle and parts of the butterfly.  So in art we talk about the parts of the butterfly and learn to draw them.  Symmetry is an important concept and one we discuss as we create our butterflies.

Here are the steps we take to create our beautiful butterflies :
1. Fold a 12 x 12 inch piece of paper in half.
2. Using an oil pastel (black or brown works best) we draw on half of the paper the body parts: head, abdomen, thorax, wings.  Press hard as you draw!  Don't forget to create a pattern inside the wings.

3. Fold the paper in half again, making sure that the drawing is inside.

4. Using a bone folder rub the lines so that they transfer to the other side of the paper.

5. Open your paper up.

6. Now re-trace the lines so they are nice and dark and easy to see.

7. Color your butterfly with oil pastels-making sure your butterfly is symmetrical of course!

Here are our completed butterflies:

Lexie

Sketch of my Lexie sleeping....

Piet Mondrian Style Paintings

1st grade started the year by talking about the Primary Colors (red, yellow and blue).  We looked at the art of Piet Mondrian who loved to use primary colors, squares and rectangles.  Do you know Piet Mondrian never painted a circle?! 

We created our Piet Mondrian styled paintings by using 12 x 18 inch drawing paper and black strips of construction paper.  We glued the strips down to make a grid like pattern, then we painted inside the shapes with the primary colors. 

Go Away Big Green Monster

Our first lesson in Kindergarten art was Go Away Big Green Monster! We read this story by Ed Emberley and talked about the shapes that make up the Big Green Monster.  Students then had a chance to make their own monster using various shapes. 

Our Monsters are adorable--not scary!!!