2nd Grade - Rainbow Stencil

I've been experimenting with fun ways to incorporate color mixing in my classroom since the beginning, and this project has sort of stuck.  It's a two or three parter, where we first make a stencil or a shape or drawing and then trace it onto a strip of paper six times.  Then we use only the primary colors to get a rainbow into each shape.  It's simple and pretty direct, but a good painting project to close the year out for the second grade.

4th Grade - Tessellations

A project I've done with fourth grade before with good results, Tessellations introduce a complicated technique and produce a pretty cool product.  For this lesson, we create a stencil where each side fits together like a puzzle, then trace the shape onto a piece of paper as many times as it takes to fill it up.  We finish it with Sharpies and watercolor.  Here are a few examples of how these turned out.

Kindergarten - Pattern Snakes

This simple project really got the kindergartners excited about coloring.  Here, we discuss patterns and all different ways of making them, then we come up with a whole bunch of our own on the different sections of this coiled snake.  It's a nice, easy way to keep up with vocabulary with shape and line - two things we haven't delved into too deep since we started working on color.

Kindergarten and 1st Grade - Planet of the Shapes

Planet of the Shapes!  About a year ago, I wrote soon-to-be-bestseller-rocket-me-to-stardom Planet of the Shapes, a book that teaches students about geometric and organic shapes.  After reading the book to my students, we discuss more in depth how to identify different types of shapes and then demonstrate our understanding with the finished product.  Here are a few examples from kindergarten and first grade.

Kindergarten - Pattern Snakes

Kindergartners learned about patterns with this simple snake project.  We started with a spiral, then divided it up and added patterns to each section by using our knowledge of color, line, and shape.  The kids worked hard and came up with interesting designs.  Take a look!