“Stained glass” project

Chagall’s America Windows

This is a project for kids of 7 years old and up. Younger kids can do this with adult‘s help.
Project takes about 30 – 40 minutes.
This project was inspired by Marc Chagall masterpiece “America Windows”.
Materials: Plastic forms of various size (plastic plate, plastic box from food etc.), three or more bottles of mod podge 2 oz. each, three or more squeeze bottle of food color, sticky craft felt sheet in BLACK color, scissors, brush.

Step 1. Prepare materials

Step 2. Decide what you want to make. If it has a border like a center of plastic plate it doesn’t need other border around you project. Otherwise you should make a border around you project. We made one stained glass from a plastic plate and another stained glass from a plastic packaging.

Steps 3 – 4. Cut borders out of felt. You can do any shapes like heart, circles, ovals, or bands. Note: for better result make simple shapes that do not have a lot of corners.

Steps 5-6. Apply the cut border to the plastic and cut the plastic around it.

Steps 7- 8. Apply the cut shapes and strips to the center of the glass. Note: The center part should have many windows and each window must have borders as shown on the pictures.

Steps 9-11. Make the dye. Add two-three drops of food coloring to each bottle of Mod Podge. Shake the bottle well. You can use one color for each bottle or mix two or more colors to make new colors.

Steps 12-13. Apply one color to each window as shown in the picture. Note: You have to make a thick layer of colored Mod Podge.

Step 14 – 15. Spread the dye within each window with a brash as shown in the picture. Note: Make thick layers. No thin layers!

Step 16. Dry for one or two days.

Paper project

Frog Cap/Hairband

This is a project for kids of 6 years old and up. Younger kids can do this with adult‘s help.
Project takes about 40 – 50 minutes.
This project was part of a children’s play scenery.
Materials: 6’’ paper plate, construction paper (white and brown), green cardboard or poster board (we used poster board), scissors, glue, green ribbon, pom poms, hair band.

Step 1. Prepare materials

Steps 2-3. Cut an oval

Step 4. Bend the oval in half

Step 5. Make some cuts along the fold (for better hairband fit) to make a cap

Step 6. Attach a hairband

Steps 7-8. Cut out four frog legs (two large and two small) and cut a piece of ribbon (about 25 in)

Step 9. Place the ribbon inside of the cap and then glue both halves of the cap together.

Step 10. Glue pom-poms on top of the cap for eyes

Steps 11-12. Cut frog’s eyes and pupils out of green, white and black paper. Glue the eyes to pom-poms.

Steps 13-14. Glue the smaller legs to the cap. Glue the larger legs to the ends of the ribbon.

Styrofoam trays project

Water Lilies

This is a project for kids of 6 years old and up. Younger kids can do this with adult‘s help.
Project takes about 30 – 40 minutes.
This project was inspired by Claude Monet masterpiece Water Lilies.
Materials: Styrofoam trays of various colors, dinner-sized (9”) and snack-sized (6’’) paper plates paper in white and blue, water print (optional), Play-Doh, green and blue plastic drinking straws, black stir straws, tooth sticks, scissors, glue

Step 1. Prepare materials

Steps 2 – 12. Make a water lily as shown on the pictures. You can use Styrofoam trays in different colors for lily petals. It would be better to make petals in advance, especially for younger kids.

Steps 13-22. Make the reeds as shown on the pictures.

Steps 23-24. Make water on a paper plate. You can make it in many ways: cut a water picture and glue it to the plate, use blue colored paper, paint it on the plate, or take a blue plate.

Step 25. Make a pond with water lilies on the plate.

Steps 26-28. Optional. You can add green leaves, grass, duckweed to the water.

Paper Plate Project

Owl

This is a project for kids of 7 years old and up. Younger kids can do this with adult‘s help.
Project takes about 40 – 50 minutes.
This project was part of a children’s play scenery.
Materials: dinner-sized (9”) and snack-sized (6’’) paper plates, foam board, colored paper (we used scrapbook paper in two different brown patterns), scissors, glue, paint (we used gold and brown acrylic paint), brush for paint.

prepare materials

Step 2. Paint a snack-sized paper plates in brown. Paint back of the three dinner-sized paper plates in gold. Let them dry.

Steps 3 – 5. Make an oval form from the foam board.

Steps 6-9. Make the plumage on the owl head. Cut many small triangles of colored paper in two different brown patterns and glue them to the top of the foam board oval as shown in the picture.

Steps 10-14. Make the plumage on the body of the owl. Cut golden paper plates into eight triangle pieces each. Add some glue drops on top of each piece and glue them to the bottom of the foam board oval as shown in the picture.

Steps 15-18. Cut the owl’s head from the sides of gold dinner-sized paper plate and glue it to the owl.

Steps 19-21. Cut the owl’s ears from the sides of brown snack-sized paper plate and glue them to the owl.

Steps 22-23. Cut the owl’s eyes from colored paper or colored paper plate and glue them to the owl. We used yogurt and bottle caps for owl’s eyes.

Step 24-26. Cut the owl’s beak from the sides of gold snack-sized paper plate and glue it to the owl.

You can make bigger oval form from the foam board and make bigger owl. Also you can use these ideas to make your a rooster or other animals.

Tempera painted flowers

Painting Cherry Blossoms

This is a project for 6-8 years old. However, you can simplify it for 5 year olds if you skip using two color petals for one color(make white petals without pink).

Materials: blue paper (ready colored or painted by kids), black or brown oil pastel, thick and thin round(that’s important!) brushes, acrylic paints (green, white, pink or purple, yellow)

Project takes about 45-60 minutes (the paper was painted in advance)

place the paper horizontally
draw outlines:
make green leaves by “stamping” medium or large brush

for flower petals load medium-size brush with pink paint and then dip a half of the brush in white paint. Make sure you use acrylic paint (not cheap gallon paint). Use only white paint if the kids are 5-6 year old (no pink paint). “Stamp” the brush about 5 times in a shape of a flower. You may need to do 2 paint loads for one flower.

repeat the process of loading a brush with 2 colors and “stamping” to make as many flowers as desired

add yellow dot in the middle of each flower

make some splatters of white paint for the pollen (load a small brush with white paint and tap it to make splatters)

Here is how my 8 year old did it all by herself:

And this work was created by 5 year old:

1st – 2nd Grade Art Lessons

Painting Portraits

This is a project for 1st or 2nd Grade (6-8 years olds). However, you can simplify it for 5 year olds if you use a template of the head.

The project was inspired by DeepSpaceSparkle tempera portraits.

Materials: large paper, oil pastel (or crayons), thick brushes, acrylic, tempera 0r gouache paints (make sure you have skin tone color)

Project takes about 60 minutes (I advice to make two 30-minutes sessions)

First, explain kids that a portrait is a picture of a person. Let kids look at each other. Ask kids what shape is our head? Is the left side of the face same as right side? Explain what is symmetry. Point that our eyes are same size and are located symmetrically with an imaginary middle line. Eyebrows are same symmetrical about the middle. The same applies to ears. Nose and lips are on an imaginary middle line.

Let kids decide whom they are going to draw (themselves, mom, dad, best friend). Tell them that they will draw a shoulder-length portrait so there is no need to draw hands, body and legs.

place the paper vertically
begin with a head shape. Draw a big egg-like oval. Younger kids (5 year olds) can trace a template.
make a neck and shoulders

draw guiding lines. Separate the face into two equal parts with a vertical line. Then draw a horizontal line right in the middle of the head. Tell kids to press on a pencil very lightly because thick lines will be hard to erase. Explain that the horizontal line will help to position eyes. The vertical line will help to position nose and mouth. Help younger kids to draw guiding lines (older can do it by themselves)

name the parts of an eye. Tell kids that an eye has a shape of a fish or a leaf. The top part of an eye is like a wide rainbow and the bottom part is like a smile.

draw the first eye in the middle of the left half of the horizontal guiding line. Don’t draw eyelashes, it will be done in oil pastels at the very end.

draw the second eye on the right side positioning it in the middle of the right part of the horizontal guiding line.

draw a mouth and a nose (like a hook or a letter “J”) positioning it along the vertical guiding line.
add eyebrows

draw hair. If a person has bangs – draw it right over the eyebrows. Otherwise, just draw a rainbow-like line for the line where hair start to grow.
add ears (if they are seen). Ears should be placed along the horizontal guiding line.

erase the guiding lines
begin painting with skin color. Tell kids to paint all of the face, the neck and ears covering lips, eyebrows and the nose BUT leave white paper for eyes

paint hair and a shirt

This is where you can finish the first session.

Second session includes facial parts in oil pastel and painting background:

color the eyes’ irises and lips
outline everything with an oil pastel (or a crayon) using the color closest to the hair. Draw eyelashes and pupils.
add cheeks: paint the cheeks with pink oil pastel and smudge it with a finger.
add patterns to the shirt. You can make buttons, necklaces, earrings or hair pieces.
paint the background. We used solid color, but it might look very nice with multicolored background as well.

Here are my students working hard:

And here are the beautiful portraits:

Spring Project

Painting tulips

This project is good for kids age 5-8. Younger kids can do only 0ne tulip.

Materials: paper, thick and thin brushes, acrylic paints, watercolor paints (green and blue)

Project takes about 45-60 minutes

give kids a choice of a still-life composition (vertical) or a landscape composition (horizontal)
draw outlines:

paint tulips with acrylic paints starting with the lightest colors (yellow and pink) and then painting with darker colors (orange, red and purple)
paint stems and leaves
using a large brush paint the sky with blue watercolor and the grass with light green watercolor (or use brown for the table)
add some shadows:
- add some brushstrokes with a thin brush using darker color (for example, use orange for a yellow tulip or red for a pink tulip)
- add green brushstrokes for stems and leaves

Here how it turned:

Working with rectangles

How to draw a Castle

Materials: paper, pencil, black crayon or black permanent marker, brushes, watercolor or acrylic paints

Project takes about 45-60 minutes

The purpose of this lesson is to teach kids how to make a complex drawing out of simple shapes such as rectangles, squares and circles. This lesson is great for younger kids of 4-6 years old.

place the paper vertically (portrait orientation) and draw a horizon line close to the bottom edge of the sheet

draw a base of the castle – a big horizontal rectangle looking as a large brick

draw the main tower – a vertical (standing) rectangle on top of the base rectangle

add smaller towers – smaller vertical rectangles to the left and to the right of the main tower

draw triangle-shaped roofs

do windows (square or circle shapes) and doors (like an arch)

make details: flags, stairs, balconies, a road, trees, a dragon or a face of a princess in the window

older kids can “play” with the architecture of the castle and make asymmetrical towers, cool roofs, balconies etc

outline everything with a black crayon if you use watercolors (don’t do it if you paint with acrylic paints)
paint the castle starting with the lightest colors (yellow, sky-blue) and the largest areas (the castle’s walls and sky) with a thick brush
then paint the darker and/or smaller areas (roof, windows, grass) with a thin or medium-size brush
always do the black parts the last
paint the details with a thin brush (flags, small windows)

Here is how my 4 year olds made it:

Learning about Landscape Genre

Beach and Palms Landscape

Materials: paper (preferable large format), pencil, brushes, watercolor or acrylic paints

Project takes about 60-75 minutes (can be split into two 30-35 min lessons)

The purpose of this lesson is to learn about a Landscape Genre.

This project was inspired by the artworks of American artist Frederic Kohli:

Introduction:

There are 5 main Genres in Painting: Landscape, Portrait, Still-life, History Painting and Genre Painting.

The word “Landscape” is derived from the Dutch word “landschap”, what means a patch of ground. Landscape is any picture presenting a scenic view of nature or city. For example, images of meadows, hills, mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, forests, coastal views, seascapes, city streets and skylines are all landscapes. Landscape can depict a real, imaginary or idealized scene.

Show kids several images of landscapes. You can play a game with guessing what is a landscape and what is not. Show kids images of landscapes, portraits, still-lives and ask to name landscapes only. If the kids are older (7-8) you can show tricky images like portraits with a landscape on a background.

Project

place the paper horizontally and draw a horizon line from one edge to another at the middle of the paper (or a little higher)

draw a beach line as a wide smile (curved, but not too much)

draw the trunks of the palms on one side of the beach or both. The number of palms can be 1 to 3 (if more, there will be not enough empty space for the sea)

add coconuts and leaves on the tops of the palms. Tell kids skip detailing the leaves and draw them simple (like a comb) because they will be painted over.

add details: a hut or a cabin, sun, clouds, yachts, rocks, shells or even an alligator

begin painting with the lightest colors (yellow sand and sun), then do the light-blue sky (if you use watercolor paint – add water, if you use acrylic – add white paint). Use wide brushes for large areas of sand, sky and sea. Paint the sea with different shades of blue, purple and aquamarine. Use small (thin) brushes for painting palms and details. When finishing, add some accents: waves on the sea, small rocks or grass.

The student’s paintings turned great!!! Here are some of them:

Learning Cool and Warm Colors

Sun/Moon Project

Materials: paper, pencil, black crayon or black permanent marker, brushes, watercolor paints (yellow, orange, red, green, blue and purple)

Project takes about 45-60 minutes

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce Warm and Cool colors to kids. Tell kids about Warm colors which are close to fire and sun (yellow, orange, red) and Cool colors which are close to ice, winter and night (blue, purple, green).

place the paper horizontally and draw a big circle (younger kids can trace a paper plate)

draw a separating line in the middle of the circle (you may add nose if you wish)

draw two half faces: one for moon and one for sun. Let kids be creative: they may draw happy or sad expressions, add hair, hats, glasses or even hands

outline everything with a black crayon or a black permanent marker
let kids decide which parts they want to be white (example: clouds, stars) and tell that those parts should not be painted (washed)
wash the sun part with warm colors starting from the lightest parts (yellow) so it keeps clean and bright and then do orange and red parts. Remind children to wash the brush each time they change the color
wash the moon part with cool colors

Working on a project:

Where Creativity happens!

Author Archives: AnnaCher

“Stained glass” project

Chagall’s America Windows

Paper project

Frog Cap/Hairband

Styrofoam trays project

Water Lilies

Paper Plate Project

Owl

Tempera painted flowers

Painting Cherry Blossoms

1st – 2nd Grade Art Lessons

Painting Portraits

Spring Project

Painting tulips

Working with rectangles

How to draw a Castle

Learning about Landscape Genre

Beach and Palms Landscape

Learning Cool and Warm Colors

Sun/Moon Project

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