Snow and Valentines

Well last week we got snow! It was only for one day and it wasnt much but enough for schools to be cancelled. The next day some schools were still out because the snow melted and then the roads had ice. It was my birthday too. At least the weekend before I went to Saint Simons Island- my birthday gift to myself.
So now it's time to start preparing for Valentines Day and Black History month and Presidents Day. That's a lot for one month. My store has lessons for all three. One of my favorite lessons is the one about colonial art and the Limners who were really house painters. They also would paint portraits. They would take boards and paint bodies of people and children in various poses, all holding something. They would let the customer choose which pose he liked and paint the customers portrait on the body and also whatever personal object the customer would be holding.
Here's the link to the lesson:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ye-Olde-Colonial-Portraits-a-cross-curricula-drawinghistory-lesson-422600

On the Farm an art theme

Many teachers use the farm theme for fall. It is a good one to teach children about animals and where our food comes from. October is a good month for corn and corn mazes and scare crows. Art teachers can teach color mixing with paint. Little ones can learn red and yellow make orange pumpkins.  Creating art with warm colors can be taught with an “On the Farm” theme.

Plastic farm animals can be bought at the dollar stores or the dollar bins at the big box stores. These are great for children to use to draw and create their own symbols or art style. Of course the internet is full of farm animal images to choose but sometimes these are difficult to draw and there may be copyright issues.

Fall landscapes of farms can also be taught. Artwork by artists such as Grandma Moses or Grant Wood can be found and projected and analyzed for colors used, how texture is created, and how was depth (close-up and far away) achieved.

I have created an On the Farm product with art lessons and examples of the steps. Here is the link:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/On-the-Farm-art-projects-2068051

Holiday Ornaments

Holiday Ornaments for you and your little ones to make at home

I have walked around some art shops and galleries and noticed some artists are painting on clear glass ornament balls. I have heard that Macon Arts even had a glass blower making glass balls at the opening of their holiday show.  One of my first Christmas gifts I received when I first began teaching at a private school was a choo-choo train painted on a glass ball. I still cherish that ornament and put it on my tree every year.

Several years ago my school held an auction and one of the parents came in my room to have the children in a particular grade make a craft for the auction. This parent took glass ornament balls, filled each ball with a bit of craft paint and told the children to twirl the ball to twirl /marbleize the paint inside the ball.

 That art project could be a neat way to teach color mixing to little ones.  That project also inspired me one year to paint my own glass ornament balls. I used white puffy t-shirt paint to make a snowman face.

 As you can see in these photographs one side is painted but because the glass is clear, one can see through the clear side to the showman’s face! It doesn’t matter if the ball turns!

To paint a glass/plastic ornament  ball at home one need to buy clear plastic balls, white puffy t-shirt paint for the snowman, acrylic craft paint, and a small brush, preferably the short-handled kid’s brushes that come in a pack from a craft store like Michael’s or JoAnn’s.

Spread newspaper on the working surface. You will also need a container with water and some paper towels or a sponge for drying and cleaning the brush when changing colors. An egg carton works great to place the ornament in when painting and drying. A round plastic lid works for a palette and can easily be discarded when finished. Old plastic ice cube trays can work also and keep the paint colors separated.

Set your supplies up. Egg carton with ornament placed  in front of the child. Paint squeezed on the lid or in the ice cube tray. Now paint! Let dry overnight and hang when ready!

For more of Mizz Mac’s art lessons and art projects click on:

www/teacherspayteachers/com/store/Gena-Mcwilliams

Preschool Children, Painting, and Watercolors

How many of you have bought those cool watercolors in the box for your young children? Who remembers painting watercolors with the metal Prang watercolors? We can still buy the Prang watercolors but they will stain clothes. Crayola has better watercolors for young children and Sargeants can be found also.

Did anyone have a classroom teacher say not to mix the colors? I know they do and I understand why they say it. If the children aren’t taught good brush handling skills, they will dip the bush into every single solitary color in the watercolor box. What happens? The colors are no longer clean but muddy or even black!  If the children are taught how to use the brush, eventually good brush painting skills will be a habit.

I found the best way for me to teach good brush painting skills was at the beginning of the school year. I would give the children a dry brush and a cup of water and a sponge. We would practice dipping the brush into the water and drying it on the sponge. Next we would pretend paint in the air, dip in the water, swish the brush to clean, dry it on the sponge, and pretend to dip the brush in the paint.

After practicing we would then paint with our watercolors. The following is a photograph of my granddaughter painting with her watercolors. She is mixing her colors on her watercolor paper.

This photo is her painting almost finished!

Another method for teaching children not to mix up the colors is by teaching them how to make colors through the color wheel. I will post more on this subject again. Mizz Mac

For more of Mizz Mac’s lessons or projects, check out her store on www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/Gena-Mcwilliams.

Sales over and I'm having fun!

Ok the TPT sale is over but I am still having fun. Do you like my new background for the blog? I drew the little girl myself and made her into a pattern. I didn't know I could customize the background with my own work!! That was fun! My classes have started back and my students are eager to be back creating wonderful works of art. I hope to get some photographs of their work for you to see soon. Mizz Mac
My Jungle Animal Coloring Book is still a freebie - you might want to grab it while it is!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mizz-Macs-Jungle-Animal-Coloring-Book-1355615

Back to School Sale!!

Back To School Sale!! My store is 20% off plus 10% from TPT!! Grab up art projects for the year!!
Here is the link to my store:
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gena-Mcwilliams

Sunshine, Sunflowers, and Vincent van Gogh for back to school

When I was driving down the Golden Isle parkway this summer on my way to Saint Simons Island, I saw a field full of beautiful sunflowers. I also saw on Facebook a posting about a beautiful field of sunflowers in Bolingbroke. These two sightings inspired my compilation of four art lessons based on Vincent van When I was driving down the Golden Isle parkway this summer on my way to Saint Simons Island, I saw a field full of beautiful sunflowers. I also saw on Facebook a posting about a beautiful field of sunflowers in Bolingbroke. These two sightings inspired my compilation of four art lessons based on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflower painting. Here is a portion of one of the lessons:

•      Look at your sunflower. What would you draw first? A Circle for the center? What would you draw next? Ovals for petals?

•      Draw a minimum of 5 flowers on your paper with a pencil.

•      Color brightly with crayons or oil pastels. No white spots of paper can show on the flowers!

•      Outline the flowers with black oil pastel or crayon.

•      Paint the white background of your paper with light colors of watercolor.

You can find the whole package of lessons including an introduction to Vincent bio page, photographic examples, and a simple art assessment in my store at:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-with-Vincent-van-Gogh-Sunflowers-and-sunshine-1326800