Pom Poms and Spider Webs

Spiders were the source of inspiration when we sat down to make art the other morning. With Halloween on the horizon, it seemed like a great time to settle in to work on some creepy creations.

We started by making a pom pom spider. The little one squeezed the glue (glitter glue, of course) and pressed the pom poms together with her tiny hands. I cut some pipe cleaners to size and her and I bent the ends to create spider legs. It was a good opportunity to talk about how many legs a spider has. We completed our spider with two googly eyes (how could we not?)

Next, I grabbed a large sheet of orange construction paper and a black magic marker. I had my girl place a dot on the paper and from there, I drew straight lines radiating out from the dot. Next, I added lines which crossed the straight lines until I had created a spider web. She added her own lines too - choosing yellow over black marker because, she said, "Yellow looks good mommy."

Once we had a spider web, I asked the young artist what we should do with it. She replied, "It needs baby spiders."

We looked in the art box and found the perfect tool - puffy paint pens. My girl loves to squeeze containers (glue, paint, mayonnaise, you name it) so she delighted in the opportunity to squeeze paint into "baby spider" shapes on our spider web drawing.

As always - it was great fun...

We have a delightful lesson plan on KinderArt where students can learn how to make a spider web pattern drawing. This is a terrific lesson plan for Halloween. Try it yourself and if you do, be sure to post a photo on our facebook page.

http://kinderart.com/drawing/drawaspiderweb.shtml

Keep creating!
~Andrea

Classroom Party Ideas on a Budget

Recently, I was asked to contribute an article to VolunteerSpot.com, a website where folks can find opportunities for volunteering. Specifically, Volunteer Spot is for anyone (including classroom teachers) to mobilize and coordinate volunteers in their community, congregation and social network.

My article is now online at the Volunteer Spot Blog - RoomMomSpot.com.

The theme is Classroom Party Craft Projects that are Low Cost & Sure to Please.

Have a look...


http://www.roommomspot.com/2011/09/19/school-party-ideas/




Keep creating!
~Andrea

When a scribble is not just a scribble...

Jannique and I pulled out the craft box this morning, to see what we could create.

Inside our box we have a variety of items including crayons, markers, scrap paper, bits of mat board, pom poms, stickers, glitter glue... and on it goes.

On this particular day, Jannique felt like coloring with markers.

I pulled out a piece of mat board and she went at it making a fabulous web of colorful lines, twisting this way and that.

Partway through, she asked me to help her.

"What color should I use?" I asked.

She looked at her drawing and responded with, "Um, I think orange."

I started to fill in a tiny little section on the paper that had been created by her lines. She waited for me to finish, gave me a big smile and then began adding more lines.

"Try red mommy."

And so I did, followed by purple, brown, green, yellow... she handed me the markers and I happily filled in spaces while she happily made more swirly lines on the paper.

At some point, we both stopped and had a look at what we made.  We both agreed that it was beautiful.

Then, we both agreed that we should stop and eat some carrot cake.

If you like the idea of Scribble Drawing we have a lovely lesson plan on KinderArt written by Kim Swanger. It's proof that you're never too old to doodle and a scribble is rarely "just" a scribble.

Try it yourself: http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/scribble.shtml 

Keep creating!

~Andrea

The art of food and flowers and vegetables... (Giuseppe Arcimboldo)

A number of years ago, my husband Geoff and I were fortunate enough to be able to take an art trip to three European cities - London, Paris and Amsterdam.

The Louvre

While in Paris, we visited the Louvre, where we walked through the courtyards, marveled at the architecture, stood motionless in front of historic paintings we had only seen in books and waited in line with hundreds of others - just to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa.

Happy me with Mona (after a really, really long wait).

Sure, the Mona Lisa was nice but for me the highlight of the Louvre visit was the opportunity to see four specific paintings...

Winter, Autumn, Summer and Spring by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn were painted in 1573 by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, an Italian born artist best known for creating portraits of heads made up of a variety of objects - from fruit and leaves to flowers and vegetables.

It is amazing to me, how incredibly detailed, magical and utterly surreal these works of art are - especially considering the time period in which they were created.

Spring  

On KinderArt, we have a wonderful art lesson plan, by Lacramioara Matei (a teacher at the Cambridge International school of Bucharest in Romania). By following the steps, students will learn how to create works of art inspired by Arcimboldo. All you need are a few simple materials including paper, crayons or markers (pastels or paint could also be used) and images of fruits and vegetables (or real fruits and vegetables).

All of the instructions can be found here: http://www.kinderart.com/drawing/fruitvegetableportraits.shtml

Give it a try and have fun!

Keep creating,

Andrea