Japanese cherry blossom

Made by Brittany, 12 years old

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. Indian ink
3. straw
4. pink tempera paint (or red and white)
5. saucer
6. Q-tip

For centuries flowers are strongly represented in the Japanese culture and lifestyle. Think of the kimonos, paintings, tableware and Japanese floral art (ikebana). The cherry blossom is the main flower in terms of symbolic value.

Cherry blossom is called sakura in Japanese. The sakura symbolizes the human life. The bloom is the sign that spring has begun, but the deeper meaning is that this abundant sign of life, just like in human life, is subject to influences that we do not control. Sun, rain and wind determine the duration of flowering.

It is important to enjoy the intense bloom of life, says sakura. Then the trick is to accept that the bloom will be only short. Like the blossom man is also at the mercy of the whims of nature. The one will bloom better and longer, the other must be satisfied with an inconspicuous spot in the shade.

Luckily cherry blossoms are not only seen in Japan. View a flowering tree with the children if there is one in the neighbourhood of the school, take along branches or shows pictures.

Drip a little Indian ink on a white sheet of paper. Blow it with a straw as wide as possible, to make branches. Let it dry. Use a Q-tip to print the blossom.

Weather proverb on a tile

Made by students of grade 6

You need:

1. white tile 15 by 15 cm
2. china markers
3. drawing sheet 15 by 15 cm
4. pencil
5. paper towel

During our school project about water and weather, children made their own tile with a Dutch proverb on it. The proverb had to be about water, of course. After making a concept on a drawing sheet, students wrote their proverb on a white tile with china markers. They added decorations with china markers too.

April showers will bring us flowers

You need:

1. white drawing sheet
2. water colour paint
3. ruler
4. white crayon or oil pastel
5. paint brush
6. water

Characteristicly Dutch weather in spring is a weather type with showers, alternated with sunny periods. Those typical spring showers are called 'Maartse buien' (March Showers) in Holland, while English meteorologists speak about 'April showers who bring us flowers'. In this lesson children will draw typical spring flowers (tulips, daffodils etc.) during a rain shower.
Sketch some spring flowers on a white sheet. Make sure your lines are extremely thin. Use your ruler to draw white crayon lines with about one centimeter between them. Make sure your crayon has a sharp point. Paint your drawing with watercolour paint. Use a lot of water to make bright colours. The crayon will resist the water paint, so your shower will be very clear!

Umbrella

Made by a student of 7 years old

You need:

1. colouring page of umbrella
2. tempera paint in blue, white and brown
3. brushes
4. black marker
5. scissors

A good exercise in mixing colors, this umbrella. Show children how to make different colours blue by mixing blue and white. Learn them to start with white and than add blue and more blue. Paint every part of the umbrella in a different colour blue. Paint the handle brown. Outline the different parts with a black marker. Cut out the umbrella.

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.

A field full of daisies

Made by Annika, 10 years old

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A3 size
2. tempera paint in blue, green, white, yellow and red
3. egg boxes or saucers
4. brushes
5. jars with water
6. newspapers
7. paper towels
8. coloured paper for background

Daisies (bellis perennis) are, until it freezes, found in lawns. View pictures of daisies and discuss what they look like. Children start to paint the grass. They have to make their own green colours by mixing blue, white and yellow. Paint the entire sheet with small vertical strokes.

When the grass is dry, the daisies can be painted. For on the field daisies are larger bigger then further away. Use a small brush and a lot of paint, to make sure the green grass is really covered with the white paint of the flower. Use a different colour green for the stalks or take the unmixed colour green directly from the bottle. Paint the hearts of the flowers with big yellow blobs.

Paste the artwork after drying on a matching background after drying.

Made by children from 9-12 years old

Tulips; spring is coming!

By Shanti, 11 years old

You need:

1. a bunch of tulips
2. drawing paper A4 size
3. white oil pastels
4. water paint
5. brushes
6. jar with water
7. coloured paper for background
8. glue

What does a tulip look like? What can you tell about the stem and the leaves? What do the petals look like? Give every group a vase with some tulips. The children have to draw a horizon line first about a third from the bottom of the sheet, the lawn. In this lawn tulips has to be drawn, using white oil pastels. Look carefully at the tulips in the vase. The tulips must overlap and do not stand in a tight line. Colour the flowers with water paint. The oil pastel will resist the paint, so the white lines remain. Paint the lawn and the air also. Paste the work after drying on a coloured background.

Spring flowers

You need

1. white drawing paper
2. wasco crayons
3. tempera
4. brushes

Children draw spring flowers with black crayon. The whole sheet should be filled with flowers. Colour the flowers with tempera. Paint the background in a bright spring colour.

Hyacinths

You need:

1. glossy paper
2. crepe paper
3. glue
4. white drawing sheet

Children have to draw the outside of a hyancinth on their sheet with gray pencil . The flower has to be filled with crumled pieces of crepe paper, who are glued on the sheet. From torn pieces of the green glossy paper they paste the leaves.

Spring bulbs

Spring bulbs, by students of grade 2

What spring bulbs do you know? Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. Maybe you know more spring flowers?
 
You need:

1. spring bulbs or pictures of them
2. white drawing paper A4 size
3. crayons
4. wash bowl with water
5. liquid watercolour
6. brushes
7. newspapers
8. coloured paper for background

Draw big flowers and colour them with crayons on a white sheet. When the drawing is finished, place it in the wash bowl. Splash liquid watercolour on the drawing with a brush. The liquid watercolour will run off into the water. Move the sheet, so the colour can spread over the drawing. Because the crayonlines are fat, they will resist the liquid watercolour. Let the drawings dry on a newspaper. Paste the artwork on a coloured background.