"Eric Carle" inspired Snowman

There is nothing cuter than a snowman, except a "kinder-created" snowman. Watching little fingers stick carrot noses and top hats to wet paint is really amusing and utterly adorable. Since most of my students have never seen snow (Santa Barbara!), I talk about how to make a snowman, focus on the big, medium and small concept that is just perfect for kinders.

Place a container of white tempera paint and large brushes on each table. Set out table protectors if you wish and then a blue or purple paper on top of that (or whatever color you like). Ask the children to paint the snow first, then the series of snowballs, beginning with the largest (bottom) and finishing with the smallest (head).
Then, as the kids add snowflakes (using the back of their brushes), place a tray of painted paper (perhaps from a previous lesson) or colored printed paper, scissors, glue stick and a black oil pastel on the table.
Demonstrate how to cut out a top hat, scarf, nose, etc. For this age, I focus on shapes: triangle for nose, a square and a rectangle for the hat, etc.
If a child wants to tear some pieces, I let them, but for the most part, every detail or embellishment is cut out.

Kinder Results!

"Eric Carle" Inspired Butterflies

Eric Carle is my inspiration. I love everything his art embodies and I think children do, too.
I do many "Eric Carle" styled lessons with my lower elementary students as they are less concerned with making things perfect and tend to let the color and energy of the paintings colorful, fresh and innocent.

These adorable butterflies are created with several templates that I created for my first graders.
(Exciting News! I have "Eric Carle" inspired lesson plans complete with butterfly, seahorse, mermaid and owl templates! Click on the Google Checkout button below to purchase.)
The children make their paper one day and trace the templates the next. It's a great group projects where children create and share their colorful painted papers.
For more Eric Carle fun, visit my other lessons: Fish, Seahorses, Barns and Farms and Owls.

Eric Carle Inspired Fish Art Lesson

Eric Carle Fish
Very same as the owls, except use a fish template (see "Barns and Farms" below). This is one project that the children often chose not to use a template. If that's the case, encourage them to cut big! They tend to cut too small when creating their won fish.

Eric Carle Inspired Owl Art Lesson

Slightly less time consuming than Barns and Farms, Owls take only two classes to complete. Follow the instructions for Day One: Getting messy (see below). For day two, I use Owl templates. You can create your own. Draw a simplified owl, then trace the parts onto cardboard or tag board. The kids can use the templates or not. I encourage the kids to add a night sky, branches, rocks, etc.
(The owls were created by Mrs. Biondo's 3rd grade class in 2005)

Eric Carle Inspired Barns and Farms

Eric Carle is one of my favorite illustrators. Over the years, I have used many of his books as inspirations for art lessons. The next few blog posts will feature work I have done with various grade levels using my basic "Eric Carle" techniques. The instructions will be basic, all using a three class format, templates and pre-painted paper.

Here's the first one:
Barns and Farms

Day One: Getting messy!
I set out 3-4 pots of pre-mixed tempera paint per table. When I say pre-mixed, I mean I create the colors. Don't just use red. Make a red-orange. Don't just use blue. Make a turquoise. Get creative! Tip: add white to the paint!
Think about what picture the kids will be creating and mix up paints for that purpose.
For the Barns and Farms, I mix up earth tones, barn colors, sky colors, etc.
For a 20 kid class, I use four to five tables. This means 12-20 pots of mixed paint.

Place a variety of texture tools on each table. This can be plastic forks, round sponges or even the store-bought texture makers (rollers, etc.) If you have nothing available, use the tip of a paint brush for texture.

Instruct the kids to apply ONE color of paint on a white piece of paper. Paint the edges and encourage the kids to go off the edges of the paper. This will make the tables messy, but so what? It's art class!
Next, show the kids how to make squiggles, dots, splatters, etc with other paints. Encourage the kids to create patterns and not blend in the colors so much that they turn to a muddy mess. This takes finesse on the teacher's part!
I allow the kids to do at least 3 papers. That means about 50 pieces of beautiful Eric-Carle inspired paper to dry. Make sure you have drying racks available.

Day Two: Tracing Templates
Before the kids come to class, I cut the pre-painted 12 x 18 papers in half. I fan them out on a big table for the whole class to use. There are only a few kids who search for the papers they made. Most enjoy the fact that all the papers were created by the entire class.
For my Eric Carle projects, I always provide a template. In this case, it is a series of different cardboard squares and triangles. The kids can use these to trace their barns. It makes the project far more identifiable than if you had the children create their own barn. Having said that, I do allow the kids to free cut rolling hills (we talk about placement here), sun, clouds, flowers and animals. As the children work on their cutting, I rotate around the tables and show them how to make flowers or a pig or a fence.

Day Three: Details

On the last day, details are created. Some kids will still have plenty of work to do, others will work on fine details. For the Barns and Farms, I show the kids how to make "boards" on their barns using a black marker. We add nail holes, etc. The kids have the option of outlining their fields as well. Adding crops, grooves, plants, etc.



(These pictures were created by Ms. Messick's 2nd grade class at MountainView School)