I plunge right into art history with my kinders. Of course, in my district
the kids have already had 3 years of pre-school- oops- 4 actually, if you
count Mommy and Me classes at one year old! I say that kids who have been
through "Pre-Natal Pre-School" are ready for the Masters! LOL...
Seriously, it's amazing to hear 4-5 yr olds discussing how Monet blended cool
colors, how van Gogh made brushstrokes, and Cezanne painted still lifes.
Even in my less-than-priveleged former district I put an emphasis on fine art
even at this level, and it works!
Here's an example of one of these lessons. Probably everyone does this one,
so humor me. But, maybe I have a little different twist by using very
watered down tempera and fingerpainting paper. Anyway, maybe there is a new
teacher out there who can use this lesson.....
Cool Color Blending Motivated by Monet's Waterlilies
Materials: Finger painting paper, water, large brushes, blue, green, violet
tempera paint, low flat containers, white tempera paint and little pink/light
yellow for middles OR coffee filters and pink/yellow tissue paper, green
construction paper.
Time: 2-3 sessions
I show them Waterliles (yes, I believe at this age it is very important to
show the art first because kinders have very little frame of reference). We
discuss what a pond is and how the flowers grow on top of the water with the
roots reaching the bottom. I ask who has ever been to a pond and let them
relate their real life experiences in discussion. They describe the painting
by identifying colors and what the "see" in the painting and how the painting
makes them feel
.
We talk about cool colors and how to remember them because they often
represent cool waters. Important vocabulary is the word "blend" and they
understand it is another word for mix. I demo blending with "horizontal"
brushstokes.
Ask students to paint their fingerpaint paper with water first. Then, cover
paper with the watered down tempera, allowing colors to run. I find
supplying the paint this way really saves time and facilitates the blending
process. On the fingerpainting paper the paint will dry to look like actual
water, or pools of color.
Session 2: Review discussion. Either use white tempera for the lilies, or
glue down white coffee filters and crumble tissue for middle. While the
paint is drying, distribute rectangles or squares of green construction paper
and demo rounding the corners for the lily pads. Glue down lily pads under
flower petals.
Now, the Kinder Cezanne lesson is successful for this age, also. I use
craypas, material, wallpaper, and construction paper. Will save that one for
another post....
Susan on Long Island
