Joan Miro Art Project

I'm always searching for one session lessons. You know the ones. Art projects that don't take two or three class times to complete. This Joan Miro inspired lesson is one such lesson. I teach this lesson to first grade but second or third grade would enjoy it as well.
First grade students have a good laugh as I explain shapes and lines, and drawing lines on shapes and lines over lines that sit on shapes.... you get the idea!

I've never done this before on my blog but it occurred to me that taking a photograph of my white board while demonstrating a lesson might help some of you visualize how I teach. As you can see, I display photocopies/print-outs/calendars of the artists work, a sample of the finished lesson and then I draw. I always break the lesson down into bits and pieces.


With the Miro lesson, I spoke about Miro's art in terms of shapes and lines. Explain the difference, especially for first graders. I like to draw a curvy line and ask them what it is. They say a line and they're right. Then, I connect the curvy line so that it becomes a shape. This way the kids see how a line and a shape differ.
Big oval head or small triangle head or wiggly, squishy round head. I draw all three and the kids can decide if they would like to copy or try their own version. I do the same for the body, giving lots of options.
I set out Crayola braod tip markers and black medium tipped markers and let the kids draw. Becasue there are few large shapes to color, this lesson doesn't take much time to complete. Only 40 minutes or so.

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Third Grade Expressive Paintings

Fred Babb is one of my favorite artists. His art is expressive, meaningful and above all, unique. It's a perfect description of what children's art should be. Fred's website features a book with pull out pages. It makes a fantastic accompaniment to this lesson. I urge you to purchase it. Not only is it great for the children, but the messages in the art will inspire every art teacher.
After talking about his art and message, I showed the kids how to make a simple face using a black crayon. I urged them to keep it very simple as the paints are the stars of this lesson.


Using a colorful palette of paint, the kids used the double loading technique (dip paintbrush in one color, then dip in another and paint both onto the paper) to paint their images. It's a good idea to leave a little room at the bottom for any message the kids might like to add later.
I encouraged the children to paint as they pleased. No instructions or rules. If they didn't like what they created, they painted right over it. They loved this freedom and I loved watching them.Finally, using a small brush dipped in black tempera paint (water down slightly), the kids added words and highlights to their painting.
The lesson only took 50 minutes but half the kids didn't have time for detailing. I'd recommend letting the painting dry and then return to it later to add words, details with a smaller brush.

Tissue Paper Butterflies

I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of this project. My popular Symmetrical Butterflies lesson for third grade got simplified for my little Kinders. Instead of painting with glitter paint, the Kinders used Mod Podge (liquid starch is another good option) and tissue paper to decorate their symmetrical butterflies. I thought they did a terrific job!