1st Crafts Lesson: Halloweeen Jack 'O Lanterns

Look what we can make with a toilet paper roll, some orange crepe paper, orange cardboard strips, black paper and raffia! And, some star punchers and sequins, naturally! =)

Halloween Black Cracked Paintings!

This lesson helped children understand the reaction between oil (oil pastels) and water (diluted black paint.)

After drawing all sorts of spooky and scary things which we discussed during brainstorming (goblins, vampires, ghosts, bats, pumpkins, Jack-O-Lanterns, witches on broomsticks and clad in cloaks and pointed hats, black cats, haunted castles...) on cardboard.

Then the kids spread diluted black paint all over and watched how the paint moved over the oil pastels. After leaving it to dry, we dabbed some of the excess paint with a cloth- we also watched how this printed on the paint!

Happy trick-or-treating!

Picture Viewer

The kids have observed several artists' work, and then zoomed into one of these using a Picture Viewer. This aids observation, finding possible ways how to imitate texture ans style and the ability to enlarge the snapshot. Amongst of the artists were Monet, Van Gogh, Botticelli, Raffaello, Da Vinci, Dali and Renoir.

Pencil work (cats and trees)

So much creativity has been bubbling inside our Budding Artists classroom....! Getting more familiar with pencils and shading techniques.

More still life in various media

The aim is that children learn the difference between different media, and what is more appropriate for specific textures, for example soft pastels are more hazy and soft than oil pastels which are more vivid and great for block colours. More photos to upload!

Fruit still life

This week's aim was to bring out the texture in three different fruit: apple (smooth,) orange (bumpy) and coconut (dry, almost hairy.)

We aimed to do this through paints, soft pastels and oil pastels, each medium having its own properties. We discussed the differences between different media, and which media portrayed particular textures better.

The coming weeks we'll be experimenting even more with soft pastels, oil pastels and also pencils. So make sure the kids are equipped with these =)