Funky flipflops

By Marrit, 11 years old

You need:

1. two white drawing sheets A4 size
2. coloured construction paper
3. two split pens or paper fasteners
4. scissors
5. glue
6. markers

Tear wide strips of the narrow side of a sheet of light blue and a dark blue sheet construction paper. Paste thes over and over and partially overlapping on a white sheet of paper: these are the waves of the sea in which your flipflops will disappear! You can also choose yellow paper and sandpaper, to suggest the beach. Trace your foot on the second white sheet. Cut it twice. Remember that one of them should be a mirror image. Colour the flipflops with bright summer colours.

Cut out of the remaining white paper four strips of about 15 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. Colour these too. Prick a hole in both flip-flops on the spot between the big toe and second toe. Prick holes in the four strips, approximately 0.5 cm from the end. Insert a split pin through the two strips and the slipper. Glue the ends of the strips under the slipper. Paste the flipflops on the sheet with waves.

Desert sunset

Made by a student of 8 years old

You need:

1. coloured paper
2. black construction paper
3. scissors
4. glue

By tearing stripes of different colours of paper, children create a sunset. Draw a big cactus on black paper and cut it out. Paste the cactus on the sunset sheet.

I scream for ice cream

Made by students of grade 1

You need:

1. coloured cardboard A2 size
2. brown construction paper
3. white drawing paper A4 size
4. tempera paint
5. brushes
6. saucers
7. tissue paper
8. salt
9. scissors
10. gold markers
11. fiber fill or cotton wool

In this lesson, children use each other's work.

Divide the class into six groups. Give each group of children some white sheets, a saucer, one colour tempera paint, salt, brushes, a jar with water and blotting paper in a slightly darker colour than the paint. Mix tempera on a saucer with a lot of water to get a light (ice cream) colour. Each group paint a few sheets of drawing paper with this diluted tempera. Salt can be applied to create texture and small pieces of blotting paper with water will suggest chocolate chips or fruit in the ice. Be sure there are so many sheets of each colour that every student can get half a sheet of all six colours.

Hang the sheets outside to dry.

Cut the large sheets of coloured cardboard lengthwise into three, so you get three large strips of approximately 15 by 60 cm. Give each child a coloured strip and a sheet of brown construction paper. Each student cuts a cone out the brown craft paper by folding the paper and cutting a triangle from the fold . Then the draw a wafer pattern on the cone with a gold marker.

Give each student half sheet of painted paper of all six colours. Let them draw circles on the sheets by outlining a cup. Cut the circles. Paste the ice-cream cone on the large sheet of cardboard, and paste six different circles on it. Remember that the first scoop of ice cream has to be pasted partly in the cone. Finally cream may be added, by cutting half a circle out of fiberfill or some cotton wool.

Colourful chicken

Made by Danjel, 12 years old

You need:

1. drawing paper A3 size
2. oil pastel
3. tempera
4. brushes
5. coloured paper for background

Children draw a horizon line on their paper. Then they draw a big chicken, partly below the horizon. They have to colour it with oil pastels in bright colours. Paint the background with diluted tempera paint.

A view from a porthole

Made by Selin, 8 years old

You need:

1. drawing sheet A4 size
2. black construction paper
3. markers
4. compass
5. glue

Imagine you're in a submarine and you look through the portholes... What do you see? Draw this under water scene and colour it with markers. Outline everything with a black marker. Choose the best part of the drawing and draw a circle of 15 cm around it. Cut this out. Draw circle of 17 cm on the black sheet and cut it out. Paste the drawing on the black circle. Use a silver marker to make the srews around the drawing.

Daydream land!

By Kim and Carlos, 11 years old

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A3 size
2. colour markers
3. chalk pastel
4. hairspray
5. paper strips in the colour of the window frame

A familiar picture for the teacher: you do your best to teach an interesting lesson, while the students stare dreaming out the window. What they see might not be so interesting: a street where every now and again a car passes or some boring buildings. Use your imagination! What would you like to see when you look out the school window? What does your daydream land look like? Do you see flying pigs? Are there popstars waving at you? Is there an airplane flying through the streets? Draw it! Colour your drawing with markers and outline it with a fine black marker. Colour the background with chalk pastel and fix it with hairspray. Cut strips in the colours of the window frames of the school and paste them on your drawing. Hello, daydreamland!

The most beautiful fish in the sea

By children of 7-8 years old

You need:

1. white cardboard A1 size
2. tempera paint in blue, white and green
3. brushes
4. jar with water
5. salt
6. markers
7. picture of the rainbow fish
8. scissors
9. glue

The book 'Rainbow Fish' is translated in Dutch as 'The most beautiful fish in the sea'. That's why I called this lesson this way.

Ask two or three children to paint the background for this group project. In this project the backgrounds are painted by children of 12 years old. Paint one or two A1 sized sheets with diluted tempera paint in several colours blue and green. Sprinkle salt on it when the paint is still wet. Let dry. Staple the two sheets together.

Read or tell the story of the Rainbow Fish, written by Marcus Pfister. The story tells of a fish with shiny, multi-colored scales. He is always fond of his scales. But one day, a small fish asks him if he could have one. Rainbow Fish refuses in a very rude way. The other fish are really upset about his behaviour and don't want anymore to play with him. Feeling upset, his only friend left, the starfish, tells him to go visit the mysterious octopus for advice. Rainbow Fish finds the octopus and asks what he should do. The octopus tells him that he should share the beauty of his scales with his friends. When he encounters the small fish a second time, the Rainbow Fish gives him one of his precious scales. Seeing the joy of this little fish, Rainbow Fish feels immediately much better. Very soon Rainbow Fish is surrounded by other fish requesting scales and he gives to each of them one of his shiny scales.

Children get a copy of the Rainbow Fish; of course children can draw their own fishe too. After drawing scales in it, they have to colour their fish with markers. Tell them to leave one scale white: Rainbow Fish will give his scale, a beautiful glittered one.

Cut the fish. Paste all fishes on the blue painted cardboard.

Flowers in fingerpaint

You need:

1. tempera paint
2. saucers
3. white drawing sheet A2 size cut in three
4. coloured paper for background
5. green crepe paper
6. scissors
7. glue

Give all students a saucer with tempera paint in blue, yellow, red and white. Let them experiment with mixing colours with their fingers. Show them that if they mix to many colours together, they'll get aa kind of brown. Mix blue and yellow to show this makes green. Show them to make colours lighter using white. Children can practice this on a scratch sheet.

Every child gets a strip white drawing paper (A2 size, cut lengthwise in three parts). Fingerpaint your own flower. Realistic or not, it's all right. The only restriction: the stalk and leaves must be green. The flower should be as high as the sheet.

Cut the flower leaving a white edge from about 0,5 cm. Paste all flowers on a coloured background. Cut a strip of grass from crepe paper and paste this in front of the flowers.

Monochromatic painting

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A3 size
2. tempera paint
3. brushes
4. black marker

Children choose a geometric shape and draw this overlapping and in different sizes on their sheet. Then they choose one colour tempera to colour their shapes. Mixing is only allowed with white and black, because the painting has to be monochromatic. When ready, outline everything with black marker.

Winter scene

I got this lesson from Anneriek Adema. Her students (11-12 years old) made this wonderful winter scenes! You need:

1. wc role
2. coloured paper
3. glue
4. scissors
5. polystyrene
6. wire, sticks etc.

The wc role is the basis for a snowman, skiing person, ice skater or something. Use coloured paper to make a person, and place him on a piece of polystyrene. Use different materials to make an environment.

This lesson can also be used to make a group work. Give every group a larger piece of polystyrene and let them discuss about what they are going to make.

Chilly penguin

You need:

1. grey construction paper A4 size
2. black shiny paper
3. white wallpaper
4. glue
5. white tempera
6. q-tips
7. leftovers of coloured paper
8. fleece fabric

Children cut a penguin body and wings out of black shiny paper. The belly has to be cut out of white textured wallpaper. The earmuffs and scarf are cut out of fleece fabric. Eyes and noses are cut out of coloured paper. Snowflakes are stamped with a q-tips and white tempera paint.

Made by children of grade 1.

This lesson is done by Lilia Bezemer and based on examples found on Artsonia.

Snowflakes

Made by Marije, 10 years

You need:

1. white drawing paper A3 size
2. oil pastels or crayons
3. watercolour paint
4. brushes
5. glitter
6. glue

Show photographs from enlarged snowflakes or (even better): let students see snowflakes with a magnifying glass or microscope. Discuss the hexagonal structure. The children draw a few snowflakes on their sheet with oil pastel crayons. The flakes don't have to be complete, parts of the flakes can be drawn along the edges.

After this, the sheet has to be painted with diluted watercolour paint in winter colours. The oil pastels will resist the paint. When the work is dry, sprinkle a little glitter in in small dots of glue.

Polish folkart Christmas tree

You need:

1. white, red and green sheet A4 size
2. scissors
3. glue

Put the red and white sheet together and fold them. Draw half a Christmas tree against the fold and cut it out. Take the white tree and fold it again. Cut some of the edges and cut patterns from the fold towards the edges (just like snowflakes). Glue the white tree on the red one and glue the complete tree on a green sheet.

Winter coat

You need:

1. pattern winter coat
2. fabrics
3. buttons, straps
4. needles
5. sewing thread
6. textile glue
7. cardboard

Pattern winter coat

Make a copy of the pattern, enlarge it if you want to and print it. Cut the coat out of paper. Fold the fabric and pin the pattern on the fabric with the middle of the pattern against the fold. Cut the coat out of the fabric. Avoid fraying and use a lock or sewing machine.

Time to decorate the coat by sewing pockets, sewing buttons, embroidery, etc. When finished, paste the coat on cardboard.

Spider web

You need:

1. white drawing paper from 20 by 20 cm
2. oil pastel crayons
3. black paint
4. brushes
5. toothpicks
6. coloured construction paper

In fall you will find beautiful spider webs in the garden and around the school. Especially when the morning dew is glistening on the wires in the sun, a web seems a work of art. In this lesson the students scretch a spider web with a spider, after they first have looked carefully at those webs. How is the web built? How many basic threads do you see? What does a spider look like? How many legs has he? How do they look? Colour a drawing sheet with oilpastels. Choose autumn colours, like orange, yellow and brown. Paint the entire sheet black and let it dry.

Scratch a spider web with a toothpick. Of course you may add the spider! Paste the artwork on a coloured background.

Wacky witches

You need:

1. charcoal
2. chalk pastels
3. white drawing paper A4 size
4. black construction paper for background
5. hairspray

How do you recognize a withc? What animals or things do you associate with a witch? What does an angry witch look like? Think of characteristis like mouth, eyes and eyebrows.

Tell children to practice first in drawing with charcoal. Explain how differences in colours have to be made. Tell them to use an eraser to erase the charcoal lines, and a tissue or your fingers to sweep out the colour.

The instruction is: draw an angry witch with charcoal and use a cold colour for the face. Draw the contours of the face first with charcoal. Then colour the face with chalk pastel. After this mouth, eyes and nose can be drawn with charcoal. Finish the drawing with charcoal. Make sure you add some typical witchy things like a cat, a bat, a spiderweb etc.

Ghosts in the air

You need:

1. black construction paper A4 size
2. leftover cardboard
3. scissors
4. white chalk pastel
5. hairspray
6. white pencil

Kids have to cut ghosts and trace the outlines of them with chalk pastels. The ghosts are haunting around a fence. The fence has to be cut from leftovers cardboard. It doesn't need to be as straight as a line, because it's an old fence, so it is crooked and broken. Then three ghosts have to be cut. The instruction is: one ghost is flying above, one behind and one before the fence. Children lay the fence and ghosts on the black paper.Then they scratch with white chalk around the cutout parts and wipe it out. Finally they have to cut a moon and do the same. Draw eyes and a mouht with a white pencil. Fix the work with hairspray.

Autumn leaves with tissue paper

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 format
2. tissue paper in autumn colours
3. brush
4. jar with water
5. white crayons

Show different shapes of leaves. Discuss those shapes and the colours those leaves have in autumn. Kids draw with white crayons different leaves on their drawing sheet. When finished, they tear parts of the different colours of tissue paper (not too small). Use autumn colours like orange, red, yellow and brown. Those pieces must be sticked by wetting the drawing sheet part by part and laying the tissue paper pieces in it. Watch out: no two same colour pieces next to eachother. Be sure the tissue paper is wet enough to bleed.

Let the artwork dry a little. When it's still moist a bit, pull of all parts of tissue paper. Wait until your work is totally dry and press it flat by laying it under a heavy book.

A spider and his web

In fall you will find beautiful spider webs in the garden and around the school. Especially when the morning dew is glistening on the wires in the sun, a web seems a work of art. In this lesson the students draw a spider web with a spider, after they first have looked carefully at those webs. How is the web built? How many basic threads do you see? What does a spider look like? How many legs has he? How do they look?

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size cut lengthwise
2. crayons
3. water paint
4. brushes
5. jar with water
6. black finepointed marker or white pencil
7. coloured paper

Draw at the top of a half sheet a web with a white crayon (be sure the point is sharp). One of the base threads have to be drawin in the middle, because the spider will hang out there. Draw a spider with black crayon and connect him with the web by drawing the middle white base thread down. Paint the whole sheet with water paint in a colour you like. Use lots of water. Crayonlines will resist the paint. Let the work and see the dewdrops on the web! Glue the work on a coloured background. Draw the web further on the background, with black fineliner or white pencil.

Hot air balloons

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. markers
3. fineliner
4. watercolour paint
5. brushes
6. coloured paper for background
7. scissors and glue
8. yarn

Look at several photo's of hot air balloons and discuss what they look like: use of colour, shape, size, advertisements. Look at the baskets and discover that, when we look up in the air we' ll see the bottom of the baskets. We also note that hot air balloons look smaller when they're further away.
Students paint their white sheet light blue with watercolour paint, using lots of water. When the sheets are drying, balloons have to be drawn and coloured on another sheet: a big one, a midsize and one or two small ones. After this students have to draw some baskets, with silhouettes of people (use a black fineliner!). Cut the balloons and the baskets.
Paste the painted blue sheet on a background paper. Make a composition of the balloons with one or two overlaps. Use the frame too. Paste balloons and baskets, but do not paste the people. Just bow them a bit, as if they're looking over the edge of the baskets. Glue small pieces of yarn between balloons and baskets. Eventually clouds can be made out of cottonwool.
This is also a nice assignment for the whole class or a group of children.