Exploring Art (4 and up)

The Exploring Art series explores a variety of visual art concepts in fun lessons. Lesson themes are detailed below.

• Negative and positive spaces: Student cut paper in white, black and an accent color. They place the cut paper on a black or white piece of paper to make use of the space.
• Sewing Patterns: With burlap, yarn and a plastic needle, children four years old and older sew patterns and enjoy the repetition and movement of their hands.  This is great to build small motor skills and confidence.
• Exploring George Seurat’s Pointillism technique: Children explore the technique of pointillism with q-tips, water color paint or tempera and paper.  The children are encouraged to place different colors next to each other and observe how they look from close up and far away. Also exploring what happens when the dots are close together versus far apart.
• Mondrian and Geometric Shapes: Children use rulers and black pens to create geometric patterns.  After the geometric pattern is complete they fill in the shapes with pastel colors.
• Trash into Treasure: Children will take old hangers, nylons and wood blocks to create a fantastic sculpture by twisting and forming.  The project is completed by painting with tempera or acrylic paint.
• Georgia O’Keefe Inspired flowers: The children will look are photos of flowers and be asked what shapes, colors and movement they see.  The child may see that the flower is made of  triangles and straight lines.  Other flowers may have more curves.  The children will be encouraged to create their own flowers focusing on the colors, shapes and movement rather then on the flower as a whole.
• • Leonardo DeVinci Inventions: Children will learn to be inventors and create original ideas for an invention.  They will draw out their ideas and talk about how they would work.  An extension to this project is to have them make it in 3-D from toothpicks, clay or cardstock paper.  
  • Jackson Pollock: Children will use string dipped in paint and use wrist movements on paper to create a piece of art work similar to the Jackson Pollock.  They will be encouraged to use big and small movement of their wrists.  An extension to the project is to have the students cut their artwork up into squares and rearrange them on another piece of paper.