Kindergarten Line Drawings

This is one of my favorite kindergarten projects and it is perfect to teach at the beginning of the year.

Lines are introduced and we talk about the many types of lines... straight, zigzag, loopy, wavy, etc.  Then I show them how they can make dotted and dashed lines, lines that start out wavy and then become spiky and even lines that are made by placing shapes in a row.

The kindergartners start with a black marker and draw the lines across the page (9x12":  I find that drawing on a small piece of paper is good for this project, because the kids get tired of coloring neatly after a short time)   This usually takes the entire first class period (40 minutes). 

The second class period, I show them how they can color in the shapes and in between the lines.

This is also a good sub plan lesson if you choose to use it that way, since it uses just a few materials and is pretty straightforward to teach.

This is an affiliate link for Dick Blick. I buy some art supplies from them and they have very fast shipping. This week I ordered some watercolor pencils from them and they literally arrived at my door in 2 days with regular shipping. You know how teachers spend their own money on things for their careers... like professional development, books and so forth? Well, I'm lucky to work in a school that is very supportive of all these things, but of course I do spend my own money on online workshops, art classes, books and some personal art supplies for my own artistic development. If you feel so inclined to ever buy something from the little ads on my blog, it just helps me to purchase more art-related things. Just thought I'd put that out there. 

And, if you are just starting out with teaching art or are looking to buy art supplies, I recommend Blick art materials... and Nasco too.  Nasco is awesome!  Honestly, I've bought supplies from just about every major art supply company and those two are my favorites.  Michael's is good for when you need to just pick up a couple things.  Did you know that there is almost always a 40% off coupon (on one item) on their website?  NEVER go to Michael's without printing off a coupon from their website.  Also, they give 15% off of every purchase for TEACHERS.  Just make sure to bring in your teaching id or paystub and you will get a discount.  You can't combine coupons though.  Joann's does the discount too, but you have to go through a little more of a process to sign up for the discount card. 

Patterned Still Life-- 5/6s

The 5/6s were developing their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination through observational drawing of a still-life.  Their goal for this unit was to use proportion, overlap and pattern to create a unified composition of a still-life.  They viewed a slide show presentation of a variety of still life artworks.  

Step One: Arrange a still life set up.  Kids should work collaboratively at their table to do so.
Step Two:  Draw your picture with pencil first.  The objects must touch at least 3 sides of the paper and there must be some overlapping.
Step Three:  Outline in black marker.
Step Four:  Fill in the sections of the still life with various patterns.  A pattern sheet was used for inspiration.

Nonobjective Line Drawing-- 3/4s

Third/Fourth Grade:  The students learned how to identify realistic, abstract and non-objective art.  The 3/4s worked on a non-objective graphite drawing.  Using only shapes, lines, texture and value the students drew an interesting non-objective design.  Non-objective art is art that has no recognizable objects.  Value in art is the degree of lightness or darkness.  The students completed a value scale using pencil.  They learned how to create contrast by placing dark shades next to light shades, rough texture next to smooth texture and incorporating a variety of sizes in their art (tiny, small, medium, large).  Their drawing needed to have a variety of lines, texture using texture rubbings, contrast, use of pressure, layering and blending, and five values (white, black, light gray, medium gray, dark gray).  One of the artists they looked at is Wassily Kandinsky.  

Easy LINE LESSON-- Kindergarten

This is an easy line lesson you can do tomorrow or with a substitute teacher.
Step one:  Draw lines in pencil across the page.  Make as many types of lines as you can... wavy, zigzag, straight, loopy, dotted, dashed, etc.
Step two:  Outline the lines in black marker.
Step three:  Color in other areas with marker or crayon.

Line Sculpture-- Kindergarten

The kindergartners have been learning about LINES and discovering the many types of lines in the world.  This week, they used wire and chenille stems to create a line sculpture.  The base is styrofoam.  Aren't these fantastic?

Line Paintings-- Kindergarten

This lesson was all about lines.  The students first painted a brightly colored background with patches of color.  Next, the students painted black lines on top.  They focused on painting a variety of types of lines-- dashed, dotted, zig zag, straight, spiral, thick, thin, wavy, bumpy, rocky, loopy, etc.

Tape and Sticker Pictures

box of stickers

This was a super fun art project that I forgot to blog about earlier.  We did this at the summer art class I taught at my school.  Tape and sticker pictures.  I wrote about tape and sticker pictures earlier which I love to do with my 20 month old daughter.  The above picture is a box of stickers I made.  I took some sticky address labels, and color photocopied some patterned paper onto the sticky labels.  Then, I cut them into strips, so the stickers would be little squares and rectangles.  The kids used these stickers plus all types of colored tape to make pictures!  There is a wide range of colored tapes you can buy from art catalogs.  Thin, thick, medium sized, neon colored.. etc. I also had some alphabet rubber stamps that some of the kids chose to use on their pictures.  I didn't give the kids any restrictions, because I wanted this to be an exploration of their creativity... of what they could do with a line...how they could arrange stickers and colors to make a cohesive picture...  These were done by kids in grades K-4.

Radial Pattern Design

 

These were made by 3rd graders.  We learned about radial balance and patterns.  To make a radial design, use a compass to draw 5-6 circles around a center point.  Draw shapes and patterns around the rings.  Color in some of the shapes solidly with black markers.  Color can be added or just small black lines and patterns. 

Line Paintings

What are different types of lines?  What is the proper way to use paints?The kids in kindergarten learned about various types of lines.  We tried to think of all the possible types of lines that we could imagine-- wavy, straight, zig zag, loopy, thick, thin, dotted, dashed, lines that start wavy then become loopy, etc.  Next, the students learned the proper way to hold a paintbrush, dip it into paint and then wash the brush with water in between colors.  Believe it or not, that is not an instinctive skill.  Without proper training, kids will often just go from one color to the next and then their painting becomes a big mess.  Some kids don't naturally know how to hold a paintbrush and some kids will mash down the bristles like a scrub brush.  After learning how to paint, they will be able to carry this skill throughout their years of making art.