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. We call those typical spring showers 'Maartse buien' (March Showers), while English meteorologists speak about 'April showers who bring us flowers'. 

In this lesson children draw 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 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!

Like Romero Britto

Dutch tulips like Britto 

This was one of my most successful lessons so far; students enjoyed it and the results were amazing. But hello copycats: Britto never painted tulips! So please don't copy this lesson (I saw a lot of them already on art blogs and  Pinterest), but create one yourself. Or at least: mention your source, kidsartists.blogspot.com! 

What do you need?

1. white drawing sheet 
2. permanent marker
3. colour markers
4. ruler

Paris

About the artist

Brazilian artist Romero Britto was born in 1963 in a deprived neighbourhood in Recife and grew up amongst eight brothers and sisters. He drew and painted on any scrap of newspaper or cardboard he could find and filled them with colourful images of a beautiful world.  

In 1983 Britto travelled to Europe to study the old masters. After this trip he traveled to the USA where popart was flourishing. He opened a gallery in Miami. In 1989 a fabmous vodka brand selected Britto to design an artwork with their logo. From that moment the name Britto was known to a greater public. His artworks are now represented in galleries and museums across five continents.

Meet his work

Look at artworks of Britto on his gallery. Discuss the salient features: 

• bright colours
• simple shapes
• the work is divided into sections that are filled with patterns
• thick black outlines

Discuss how you see the difference between the drawn picture and the background. Ask about the stylistic characteristics and where to classify this artist (popart).

What should you do? 

1. Draw a picture of a subject of your choice - no details, just the main lines.
2. Divide the drawing sheet with pencil and ruler in several sections. 
3. Trace all lines with a waterproof black marker.
4. Color the whole sheet with markers like Britto did.

For the background we stamped circles with toilet rolls on a colored sheet and pasted the artwork on it.

Works of art made by students of grade 4 and 6. 

Op art around an eye

You need: 

1. drawing sheet 20 by 20 cm
2. ruler
3. pencil
4. post it 
5. black markers

Step 1

Draw an eye in the middle. 

Draw lines from the eye to the edges. Important: this must be an EVEN number of lines, otherwise you won't be able to color a checkerboard pattern later.  

Step 2

Put a post-it on the eye. Be sure there will be place for another one later.  Draw dots on the cornors with a pencil and connect them.  

Step 3

Do the same on another part of the sheet. 

Step 4

Trace all lines with a fine black marker. Draw alternately dots in the shapes that must become black. Color them with a bigger black marker

Stap 5

Color the iris of the eye with pencil. 

Animals in spring like Hans Innemee

by students of grade 1-2

You need:

1. grey construction paper 21 bij 21 cm 
2. oilpastels

This lesson is for grade 1-2. In 2012 I wrote a lesson for grade 3-4 about Hans Innemee. 

Hans Innemee (1951) is a Dutch artist. View artwork of him with the students. Discover the small stories in his work. Can you tell a small story while looking at these two birds? 

Discuss the artworks: 

1. subject: animals
2. few colors
3. frame
4. simple background

Task for today: draw young animals in spring. Color them with oilpastels. Outline with black around the drawing. 

Athletes in motion

You need:

1. colored construction paper
2. white drawing sheet 
3. paperclips
4. scissors
5. cutting mat and cutting knife
6. glue
7. marker
8. photo of an athlete 
   
   

Print a silhouette of an athlete. Put the colored sheets together with the printed athlete on top. Fix with paper clips. 

Cut out the athlete, and the colored sheets at the same time. Keep moving the paperclips to be sure the four sheets stay together. Use a cutting knife for areas the scissors can't reach.

Make a composition that suggests movement and stick the athletes on the white sheet. Use an marker to fill the background with patterns. 

Thanks to A faithfull attempt for this great lesson.