Fireworks over the city

Made by Oscar, 11 years old

You need:

1. white drawing paper A3 size
2. oil pastels
3. liquid water colour
4. brushes
5. coloured paper for background

Children draw a New Years eve in three sections: foreground, middleground and background. At the bottom of the sheet they draw a lot of backs of human heads; these are the people looking to the fireworks. In the middle they draw a street with houses. People are standing in front of those houses, so think about overlapping! The third section is above the houses: beautiful fireworks. Colour everything with oil pastels. Use bright colours for the fireworks, including white. Don't draw too many details, that isn't easy to colour because of the oilpastels. Whey ready, paint the whole drawing with dark liquid watercolour, because new years fireworks are at night! The oil pastels will resist the watercolour.

Tealight holder with glass paint

Made by students from 11 years old

You need:

1. used jar or small drinking glass
2. glass paint
3. outline paste in gold
4. brushes
5. turpentine

Wash your jar in hot, soapy water and remove any labels. Dry the jar completely. Cover your work surface with newspapers and have whatever cleaning solution you'll need for your brushes already set up. If you're going to do an outline, test the outline paste before you start, to learn how much pressure you need to apply to get it to come out evenly from the tube. If you make a mistake with either the outline paste or the paints, it's easy to correct by wiping it off with a paper towel before it dries. Paint your outline first. If you're working from an existing pattern, you can tape the paper pattern on the inside of the jar and follow it from the outside. Or, you can work freehand. Let the outline dry according to directions, then paint with transparent glass paints. Hold the jar up to the light periodically to see how it looks. It'll look different with the light coming through it. Allow your design to dry thoroughly (this usually takes about two days). To turn your glass jar into a lantern, put a layer of sand on the bottom and add a tea light.

Fireworks rockets

Fireworks, by children from 11-12 years old

You need:

1. tubes from Pringles
2. long wooden stick
3. construction paper in different colours
4. scissors
5. glue
6. wide tape
7. wire

Paste black paper around the tube. Decorate the rocket with stars, dots etc. cut out of coloured paper. Make a cap from a circle and paste it on the rocket. Fix the stick in the tube with wide tape. Take small tape to fix a piece of wire in the tube; this is the sliver.

Polish folkart Christmas tree

What do you need?

• white, red and green sheet 
• scissors
• glue

What should you do?

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

Christmas trees collage

By Silke, 10 years old

I found this idea on Artsonia a collage of Christmas trees coloured with different materials on music paper. You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. different colouring materials, like crayons, oilpastel, watercolour paint, tempera, colour pencils, markers, aquarelle pencils etc.
3. music paper
4. chalk pastel
5. green paper for background
6. scissors
7. glue
8. black marker

Divide different colour materials in your classroom. One place with paint (water paint and tempera paint), one place with crayons and oil pastel, one place with pencils and markers. Children draw three overlapping triangles on a white sheet, the Christmas trees. These trees have to be coloured with different materials and patterns. The only colour they may use is green, in all its nuances. To colour, children have to take place at the table where the material of their choice is. When finished, the trees and patterns have to be outlined with a black marker. The trees (with the black outline) must be cut out. Then kids have to tear pieces of music paper and paste them on a new white sheet. Colour the background with light blue chalk pastel. Do not colour the music paper, just rub the edges with the chalk pastel. Paste the trees on the blue sheet and paste this work on a green background.

This work can also be done as a group work. All trees (or groups of trees) have to be glued then on a large background of music paper.

By children of 10-11 years old

Christmas quilt

By Charmaine, 11 years old

You need:

1. white drawing sheet from 20 by 20 cm
2. ruler
3. pencil
4. finepointed black marker
5. red or green marker
6. black construction paper
7. white marker
8. glue

Children divide their sheet with ruler and pencil in 16 squares from 5 by 5 cm. In each square they draw a Christmas figure: tree, candy, snowman, skates, mitten, sock, candle etc. These figures have to be coloured , just like a checkerboard: alternately the background is red or the figure is red (or green). When ready, outline all figures, details and squares with a black finepointed marker. Paste the drawing on a black sheet and outline it with a white marker.

Cubist Christmas tree

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. ruler
3. tempera paint
4. brushes
5. gold and silver marker

Children draw a simplified Christmas tree: a big triangle. Measure it from the middle line. After this, draw lines across the drawing sheet: from top to bottom, from left to right, from top or bottom to the sides etc.

The tree has to be painted with different green colours (mix them!). The background has to be painted with warm mixed colours. If dry, the lines in the tree have to be drawn with a silver marker, the lines from the background with a gold marker.

Stained glass in Mondriaan style

You need:

1. black construction paper 20 by 20 cm
2. tissue paper in green, red and white
3. white pencil
4. ruler
5. cutting blade
6. cutting mat
7. glue

Discuss stained glass. How did the craftspeople of yesterday make stained glass? How do they make it today? Show some paintings of Mondriaan. What colours did he use? What forms do you see? Children are going to make a little square or round stained glas window out of paper. The style must be like Mondriaan, colours must be like Christmas. Give each student one sheet of black construction paper. First children must choose their form. When they choose a round form, they have to draw a circle with compasses. Cut this out. Draw another circle about 1,5 cm out of the edges; this is the frame. Children who chose the square, draw also a line about 1,5 out of the edges. This is the frame. Draw squares and/or rectangles in your window using ruler and a white pencil. The lines must be 1 cm wide. When ready, draw crosses in the rectangles that have to be cut out.

Cut away the forms with the crosses. Cut carefully and use an iron ruler. Use your black window as a template to draw the forms of squares and rectangles on the three different colours of tissuepaper. Cut the forms out of the tissue paper with 0,5 cm extra for the adhesive border. Paste the colours alternately on the backside of your window.

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.

Blowing trees

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. watercolour paint
3. tempera paint
4. indian ink
5. q-tips
6. straws
7. black construction paper

Practice blowing the ink droplets first on a scrap paper. Drip a drop of indian ink at about one third from the bottom of the sheet and blow through the straw to the top of the sheet and to the sides. Keep blowing to get smaller branches. Make three trees this way. Let your work dry. Paint a background with watercolour paint. You can paint over the trees carefully, the indian ink will not smudge if it's dry enough. Let the work dry again. Take tempera and a q-tip to paint autumn leaves on the branches, the ground and in the air. Near the tree many leaves, further less leaves. Paste your work on a black sheet.

Wrapped art, like Christo

A wrapped globe

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, Christo (1935-2020) worked on large art projects. His artistic strategy ais to wrap buildings or landscapes with fabrics. The wrapping of buildings or objects leads to the abstraction. 

Examples of his work are the wrapping of Pont Neuf in Paris (1985), the Reichstag in Berlin (1995) and The Gates in Central Park New York (2004). Christo wants his work to be seen by lots of people. The result is intended purely aesthetic. People will look at the environment "with new eyes". All work from Christo is to be seen on his website.

Wrapping like Christo

Ask students to take an object from home that:

1. is larger than a soda can;
2. fits on a table;
3. is not breakable;
4. is not expensive;
5. may stay in school for some days;
6. has a particular form (not just a box)

Discuss with the children why people wrap things: to protect, to surprise (presents), to ship. Why has Christo wrapped things? What is the effect of the wrapped objects? Look at some Christo projects and discuss them.

A wrapped easel

You need:

1. an object for each kid
2. big fabrics, pieces of plastic, garbage bags, wrapping papier, toilet paper, aluminum foil and plastic wrap
3. materials to tie, like rope, yarn, tape, wire, fishing line, painter tape and fabric strips
4. materials to decorate, like feathers, paint, markers, coloured paper, textile markers, glitter glue, buttons etc.

The goal for today: wrap your object to hide details; tie it, to make the form visible again. When your ready earlier than others, you may decorate your artwork using different materials. When children go to work, walk around and stimulate them. Each kid wraps in his own way, nothing is wrong. Stay mentioning the goal: wrap to let disappear details, tie to recognize the form again. When everybody is ready and the classroom is tidy again, ask children to exhibit their work. Are the goals achieved? Finally children make some digital photo's of their own work.

A wrapped Christmas decoration

Lesson and photo's received from Linda Vroemisse

Explosion at the bottle factory

This lesson is designed to help explain the idea of Abstract art. It is from an Arts and Activities magazine.

Paintings of trees by the Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan show the development of realistic painting to abstract painting clearly. The red tree (1908) is a realistic painting, Mondriaan painted what he saw.

The grey tree (1911) is more abstract, but the shape of the tree can still be seen.

The apple tree (1912) doesn't look like a tree anymore, unless you see this one together with the former paintings.

You need:

1. black construction paper
2. scissors and glue
3. coloured paper
4. ruler and pencil

After showing the paintings of Mondriaan, kids have to make their own abstract artwork out of a realistic one. Children draw a line halfway their black sheet. Then they have to cut three or four double bottles out of coloured paper. Glue the bottles on the top piece of the black sheet. Cut the remaining bottles into pieces and glue them on the bottom of the sheet.

The longest line

You need:

1. white drawing sheet 15 by 15 cm
2. black fineliner
3. markers

I found this lesson on Artsonia. Start in a corner and draw ONE line, the longest line: curved, straight, zigzag, with angles etc. The line has to fill the whole sheet and you may not pick up your marker from the sheet! The line may not hit or cross itself. And, the most important: the line has to end at the point it started. So be sure you're back in the beginning in time!

When ready, draw with a pencil three or four geometric shapes on your sheet. Choose three colours marker per shape and colour them. Outline your shapes with the black fineliner.

Greetings from ... Holland!

And this is Holland too ....

You need:

1. white drawing sheet from 20 by 10 cm
2. markers
3. fineliner
4. ruler
5. pencil

Draw a horizon line about 2 cm from the upper edge. Put a dot in the middle of this line, the vanishing point. Draw lines from the bottom and sides towards that vanishing point. Make six lanes or more - this is the highway. Colour the highway with gray marker, leaving out the white stripes. Colour agriculturul fields besides the highway. Colour the sky. Draw a cityscape with high buildings and houses on the horizon and colour them with black and grey markers. Together with the lesson about the bulb fields, we have a nice postcard! Greetings from Holland!

Find it!

Waterpaint with finepointed marker

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. watercolour paint or tempera
3. marker or fineliner

Paint organic shapes on you sheet with different colours. Make sure the whole sheet is full. After drying, take a black fineliner or marker and search for faces, animals or objects in your shapes. Outline them and add details to recognize your object or face!

Tempera with marker

Leaves pattern

You need:

1. white drawing sheet 21 by 25 cm
2. markers

Draw lines around your sheet a half centimeter from the edges. Divide the remaining square in 16 compartments from 5 cm by 6 cm. Draw a leave on construction paper and cut it out. Trace the leave in the 16 rectangles. Draw patterns in the leaves: take a pair for each pattern. Colour them alternately with two colours. Outline all leaves with a black fineliner. Draw a square in two colours around your work.

In the style of René Magritte

Made by Nikki, 11 years old

Rene Magritte is born in 1898 in Belgium. When Magritte is 13 years old, his mother commits suicide. She jumps in the river Samber and is found with her dress covering her face. This image has been suggested as the source of several paintings from Magritte: people hiding their faces with several objects.

In 1924 Magritte became friends with members of a surrealism group in Brussels: André Breton, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí. These artists influence Magritte's work. In the end Magritte became famous with surrealistic paintings.

Magritte gave his paintings a realistic effect of surrealism. He painted simple objects, like a shoe, an apple, a pipe or a tree. Magritte took these things out of their ordinary environment and placed them in a special surrounding.

One of Magritte's most famous works is "La Trahison des Images" (The Treachery of Images). This is a very realistic painting from a pipe, with the text: Ceci n'est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe). The painting is not a pipe, but rather an image of a pipe. As Magritte himself commented: "The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture 'This is a pipe,' I'd have been lying!"

By putting us constantly on the wrong track, Magritte forces us to think about art. Magritte thought it the task of an artist to place reality in a different context.

Nikki working on her version of Magritte

You need:

1. drawing sheets A3 size
2. brushes and water containers
3. old newspapers
4. tempera paint
5. (black markers)

Show Magritte's work and talk about surrealism. Ask children to tell what they see in those surrealistic paintings. Talk about realism and show realistic paintings. What are the differences between these two styles? How do you recognize surrealistic art? Show the painting The son of man and tell about the covered faces we'll see in a lot of Magritte's paintings.

Made by Kiki, 11 years old

Children sketch a portrait, just like Magritte did. It doesn't have to be someone special, just a person. Instead of an apple, they choose a present-day object to cover the face. This object has to be about as large as a face, so a piano or a coin can't be used! Options: an Ipod, cell phone, candy or something. When sketching is finished, the drawing has to be painted. When necessary, students can outline the covering object with a fineliner.

Made by Jetse, 12 years old

Happy Halloween

You need:

1. orange construction paper
2. black construction paper
3. black fineliner
4. black marker
5. correction fluid
6. scissors and glue

Children are drawing a Halloween party at night. They work with black marker on orange paper. Brainstorm what things make you think of Halloween: spiders, skeletons, witchas, bats, black cats, dark, cemetary, pumpkins etc. Vandaag worden alleen contouren getekend. Wat zijn contouren en hoe teken je die? Every child gets an orange construction paper. Draw the width of a ruler on the top and bottom of the sheet. Draw a halloween party, using markers in various sizes. Use correction fluid to make eyes. Glue a strip of black construction paper on top and bottom of your drawing.

Puzzle trees

You need:

1. black paper A4 size
2. black paper 23 by 32 cm
3. oilpastel crayons
4. scissors and glue

Students draw with a pencil on a black A4 sheet a simple mountain landscape under the moon. Colour it with oilpastel crayons and outline the mountains and moon with black crayon. Show the students that the colour of the air around the moon is lighter. Use white and yellow to brighten up blue colours, or black to darken them. Make sure your colours in the air will blend.

When colouring is finished, turn around the sheet. Draw a tree on the back, with five branches: one tho the right, one to the right edge of the paper, one to the middle above, one to the left edge of the sheet and one to the left. Branches have to be small at the end and wide near to the trunk. You've got six puzzlepieces now. Cut them out and place them on the larger black sheet. Use the cut tree to check if your pieces lie well. Pate all parts on the black sheet, exept the tree of course. Maybe you can do something fun with it?

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.