For my last class with my fifth grade students at Brandon School, I asked them to create a self-expressive city scape. We spoke about things you would find in a city, including skyscrapers and roads but also parks, zoos, shopping malls and skate parks. We traced the skyscrapers using cardboard templates and placed them on a lightly draw horizon line. Then, that was it for instructions! Using pencils, the kids drew whatever "scene" they wanted and painted the entire piece using tempera paints. Sadly, most kids couldn't finish the project in the allotted time frame. Sometimes this happens with free expression because of the lack of "direction". I can understand this. Many times I have sat down to paint only to feel a bad case of artist block attack my brain. I encouraged the kids to paint anything even if they thought it was silly. This seemed to loosen them up. Hopefully, they will find their art this summer during a lazy day and find their "expression" again.
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