Photography

I have been wanting to do this multi-week lesson forever and the spring is the perfect time. I asked families to bring in digital cameras for the Pre-K children to use.  I wanted them to use real cameras as many of them had never used them before. We got a few.  With those, we talked about photography. 

During this lesson, we tried light painting.  I wish we could have spent more time on this.  They loved it! I learned a lot from this lesson, too.  We eventually got some great photographs. 

We also tried photographing still life.  We found items around the classroom, arranged them on a table, and took pictures from a distance and close up.  

In this lesson, we explored photographing nature.  We took landscapes and close ups.  We have a beautiful campus around the center with lots of photo opportunities.

In addition, we also did photo booth photography however I didn't post any pictures because their faces were in them.  Basically, I got some photo booth props-glasses, mustaches, bow ties, frames, hats, etc and the children took pictures of each other.  They were able to choose their models and photograph them using the props.  It was so much fun!

We made photo albums with all of their work so they could take it home as an end of year gift. 

Object Rubbings using Chalk Pastels

Chalk Pastels is one of those materials that we rarely use in the art studio.  I don't know why and I definitely should bring them out more often because the kids love them. 

For this lesson, I taped these metal grid samples to the table and covered them with butcher paper.  Some had very small grids while others were large and the pattern on each is different. Running the pastels over the paper left cool grid patterns. 

For this lesson, I put a bunch of objects I found in the art studio that were flat-crafts sticks, stencils, shape buttons, doilies, Lego boards, etc. The children enjoyed discovering what was on the table by rubbing the pastels against the whole surface. 

It's always fun to let them guess what is under the paper and at the very end, we lift up the paper for the big reveal.  We discuss what we found and what we didn't find and why

Crayon Resist

This week in the art studio, we explored crayon resist.  I explained to the children what materials we would be using- white crayons, watercolor paper, and liquid watercolor.  

They were asked to draw a picture on the white paper using white crayon.  Some of them were very disappointed that they could not see their pictures on the paper but I asked them to keep drawing.  A surprise would be revealed during the next step.  

Once they had finished drawing, I put out the watercolor paint,  As they painted, they began to see where the crayon wax was resisting the paint and an image was beginning to appear.  As they added more and more paint, the children were thrilled to see the surprises on their paper as their pictures were revealed.  

Printmaking

I have these thick glass panels that I got at the recycle center and have been trying to figure out how to use them in the art room. 

I decided to try printmaking.  I used tempera paint and spread it out evenly with a brayer.  The children were able to use tools such as combs, sponges, and brushes to create lines and patterns in the paint.  We then put a piece of paper over the paint and lightly pressed down allowing the image to be transferred onto the paper.  It was an interesting first try however, I don't think tempera paint might be right for the job.  It's too slippery and not tacky enough. 

Alberto Giacometti

In an effort to do a lesson on Giacometti, I showed the children some of his sculptures, gave them pipe cleaners, and tin foil, and a poseable figure. 

I thought the lesson would go one way with the children bending the pipe cleaners into a figure and wrapping it with foil but class went a different way when they began decorating the poseable figure instead.  This was fun, too.