free art day: mosaic fall leaves

 

I had a second grade class be the first to be rewarded with a FREE ART DAY. This took place this week, and we had a ton of fun creating some fall leaves to be displayed in the art room windows! I used this free art day project as a precursor for our next unit (color and shape), which will be introduced this coming week (10/14)!

I drew leaves out onto poster board, and each student was given a leaf to cut out. I made sure that I had different levels of difficulty for cutting the organic shaped leaves (easy, medium, hard). A perfect opportunity to really refine our cutting skills!

I set up the tables with pre-cut tissue papers in warm colors (red, yellow, orange, brown), and a glue/water mixture for pasting! I first demonstrated how to work with the tissue paper and glue mixture, and then let the students have at it! This project was pretty messy, but my "friends" loved it!! The results were beautiful, and they truly are a nice fall addition to the art room!

Some classes who had finished early with their unit projects on line were able to make some mosaic leaves as well! Here are the leaves we made, dressing the classroom and front office!! :)

the art classroom door

our leaves adorning the front office windows

happy Fall, friends!

Miss Miller

empty bowls project

I welcomed the opportunity for some of my students to participate in the Empty Bowls Project, a service project put on by the Second Harvest Food Bank. Every year, the Empty Bows Project sponsors a luncheon, where for a small price, you receive a hand crafted, student-made bowl, a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and a cup of water. Teachers and local artists also pull together to create large scale bowls which are donated for a silent auction at the luncheon! (Of course, I had to make one! So much fun) I had fifth graders, as well as extended day students, help create these bowls! For most of my students, it was their first time working with clay, and I am very pleased with the results! Check them out!

stamping technique

forming the clay bowl

glazing the bisqueware

glazing the bisqueware

finished bowl

finished bowl

finished bowl

Here's my hand crafted bowl...I used sea glass (from my travels) to create texture on the outside of the bowl! Unfortunately I don't have a picture after the glaze firing!

after the bisque firing

outside of bowl

Isn't the kids' work amazing for first timers? :)

Miss Miller