Monday, March 9, 2009

Flower Drawings for Second Grade

Understanding how shapes come together to form pictures is one of the easiest and most satisfying lessons to teach younger kids. Many of my lessons involve drawing simple objects, and flowers are one of them.
The idea is to think about composition. Show the kids how drawing the centers of the flowers first gives them more control over how the final picture will look. Demonstrate how to draw large and small centers using ovals and circles. Then, show them how to add petals, make tulips, leaves, etc.

Draw as many graphic flower shapes as you can. Get their creativity spinning by showing unique flowers that have a square or triangular shape.
Now, give them a black marker and let them go.
After the flowers are drawn, it's time to connect them. By drawing one line from the side of one paper to the other side, connecting the flowers as you go, gives the piece a cohesive look. Double the line and the picture is ready to color.
You could use pencil crayons or markers for this part.

11 comments:

  1. I love your projects site for children and the diversity it has to offer, and the incredible energy it gives.

    Please invite your readers to a wonderful childrens' art site at http://ArtShowForKids.com where children from around the world are sharing their art, showing their art projects, and participating in ongoing childrens' art shows and kids art contests.

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  2. Wow - I LOVE this idea! Can't wait to try it!!! I'll be linking your blog to mine. :)

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  3. I love seeing your students artwork! These are really great!

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  4. Thanks everyone. If you try this lesson, let me know how it turns out.
    Thanks for visiting! You make my day.

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  5. We did the self portraits and the penguins this week. I love this stuff!!! The kids are really excited about this- their confidence is soaring and they think it is so cool that their drawings look "real"!

    Keep up the good work!!!!

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  6. Sara,
    I'm so pleased the lessons worked for you. I'd love to see the results. Thanks for sharing this...you made my day!

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  7. love this , we homeschoolour four kids and I am alwayslooking for fun and creatice ideas for all my subjects. Art is afavorite of my oldest daughter, so she will enjoy this alot.

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  8. Nice lesson. I came here from the Crafty Crow. I teach elementary art as well, so I'll be checking out the rest of your blog. jan

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  9. I love this lesson- it reminds me of the children's book "Counting in the Garden" by Kim Parker. I have been looking for a lesson to use the book with, and I believe I've found it! Thanks so much!

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  10. I just finished this project with my second graders (project kids!!) and was blown away by the results. Simply amazing. Thank you!!!

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Well, what do you think? I love hearing how you adapted the art projects. Did it work? Any pitfalls? Or, if you'd like, just share your thoughts.