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art curriculum for 1st grader and preschooler


sassiemom
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Ok--maybe you're looking for more bells and whistles, but here's what I did for preschool/1st grade last year:

 

Supplies:

Picture quality paper (for printing photos) from WalMart. Matte finish is best.

Lots of colored ink for your printer

Printer.

Books from the library about artists.

Cheap paint brushes

Cheap paints

Cheap paper to paint on

 

To do:

Pick an absurdedly famous artist (Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, etc).

Print one of their pictures/sculptures from the internet and hang it on the fridge.

Each day read a little bit of a book about the artist to them. Just a page or two.

One day have the kids try to copy the picture.

Next week, put another picture on the fridge, by the same artist.

Stick to the same artist for at least a month. Maybe 2.

 

Here's how we copied some of the pictures:

Van Gogh painted a lot of yellow flowers. We got some yellow flowers from Walmart and painted them.

He also painted a picture of his pipe on a chair. The kids put a favorite toy on a chair and painted it.

Some artists do self-portraits. I had the kids sit in front of a mirror and using pencils draw themselves. (The 6 yo drew a picture of himself picking his nose, since that was what he was doing in between drawing his portrait.)

 

The kids learned a surprising amount. Just last week we went to a hotel and even though they haven't studied Van Gogh in about 5 months, they recognized a picture on the hotel wall by him, and remembered his name (it was a sunflower picture.)

 

They also really got a kick out of how everyone in Michelangelo's work is naked and the pope had to hire other artists to paint sashes covering the naked people in the Sistine Chapel.

 

We were able to go to see a real live Van Gogh at a museum in DC. In the books you read about Van Gogh, it tells you that he would glop on lots of paint. The kids were pretty interested to see the picture in real life with all the glopped on paint.

 

 

Well...that's what we did. It seems to have stuck with them and they're only 4 and 6. And it didn't cost too much. (The photo paper was the most expensive thing.)

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I can tell you that Artistic Pursuits is looking more and more interesting to me for the future (grade 1 and up), but this year we'll be using How to Teach Art to Children by Evan-Moor along with Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks (maybe, maybe not) for K5.

 

:001_smile:

 

ETA: We also have ABeka Art Projects K5 & 1 on hand for quick and fun art/crafts.

Edited by CMama
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Artistic Pursuits looks great! Book 1 is for one years worth of art? Garga.... I really like your idea but wonder if I am organized enough to be consistent. CMama...have you used How To Teach Art To Children? I will look into it. Thanks everyone!

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I would like to try Artistic Pursuits one of these days too.

 

But what we did last year for preK and 1st was follow the Art section of What Your first Grader Needs to Know. We read a little section, did any projects listed (and I checked their online lesson plans too, sometimes they have printouts or other ideas..) This teaches some art concepts and also some picture study. This along w/doing lots of SOTW projects and free arts and crafts was just enough for our art. We actually made it last all year. It was successful too. My dd even recognized a painting in an exhibit that our museum had on loan that we had studied in the book.

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Ok--maybe you're looking for more bells and whistles, but here's what I did for preschool/1st grade last year:

 

Supplies:

Picture quality paper (for printing photos) from WalMart. Matte finish is best.

Lots of colored ink for your printer

Printer.

Books from the library about artists.

Cheap paint brushes

Cheap paints

Cheap paper to paint on

 

To do:

Pick an absurdedly famous artist (Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, etc).

Print one of their pictures/sculptures from the internet and hang it on the fridge.

Each day read a little bit of a book about the artist to them. Just a page or two.

One day have the kids try to copy the picture.

Next week, put another picture on the fridge, by the same artist.

Stick to the same artist for at least a month. Maybe 2.

 

 

 

:iagree:

 

This is pretty much what we have done too. I have the Artistic Pursuits program but will be using it this year with older students.

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Ok--maybe you're looking for more bells and whistles, but here's what I did for preschool/1st grade last year:

 

Supplies:

Picture quality paper (for printing photos) from WalMart. Matte finish is best.

Lots of colored ink for your printer

Printer.

Books from the library about artists.

Cheap paint brushes

Cheap paints

Cheap paper to paint on

 

To do:

Pick an absurdedly famous artist (Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, etc).

Print one of their pictures/sculptures from the internet and hang it on the fridge.

Each day read a little bit of a book about the artist to them. Just a page or two.

One day have the kids try to copy the picture.

Next week, put another picture on the fridge, by the same artist.

Stick to the same artist for at least a month. Maybe 2.

 

Here's how we copied some of the pictures:

Van Gogh painted a lot of yellow flowers. We got some yellow flowers from Walmart and painted them.

He also painted a picture of his pipe on a chair. The kids put a favorite toy on a chair and painted it.

Some artists do self-portraits. I had the kids sit in front of a mirror and using pencils draw themselves. (The 6 yo drew a picture of himself picking his nose, since that was what he was doing in between drawing his portrait.)

 

The kids learned a surprising amount. Just last week we went to a hotel and even though they haven't studied Van Gogh in about 5 months, they recognized a picture on the hotel wall by him, and remembered his name (it was a sunflower picture.)

 

They also really got a kick out of how everyone in Michelangelo's work is naked and the pope had to hire other artists to paint sashes covering the naked people in the Sistine Chapel.

 

We were able to go to see a real live Van Gogh at a museum in DC. In the books you read about Van Gogh, it tells you that he would glop on lots of paint. The kids were pretty interested to see the picture in real life with all the glopped on paint.

 

 

Well...that's what we did. It seems to have stuck with them and they're only 4 and 6. And it didn't cost too much. (The photo paper was the most expensive thing.)

 

This is very similar to what I wanted to try with my 4 and 5 year olds. You have added a few things that I like, though. Did you use the same sorts of paints that the artists used or did you just stick with cheaper, kid-friendly paints? (ETA: Nevermind... I see where you put "cheap paint" at the top! :D)

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I can tell you that Artistic Pursuits is looking more and more interesting to me for the future (grade 1 and up), but this year we'll be using How to Teach Art to Children by Evan-Moor along with Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks (maybe, maybe not) for K5.

 

 

:iagree:

 

This is *exactly* our plan for practical art. Is that called applied art? For appreciation, we're using the plan outlined at Ambleside Online.

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