Songs
in the Key of Art - Early Childhood
Elementary Art - Learning Elements and Principles
Drawing
Ideas | Painting
Ideas | Collage
Ideas - Mixed Media | Printing Ideas
What could be more
fun that to sing a song then do your work? Students listen to
the song while work, too to reinforce the concepts. Pretty soon,
they are making up their own dance to the music. Below are some
basic lesson using Greg Percy's "Songs
in the Key of Art." (See links to his music below) Other basic elements and
principles art lessons have been added.
Drawing Ideas
Painting Ideas
Submitted
by Denise Pannell
Primary Lines -Wassily Kandinsky
From Denise: This lesson is done with pre-kindergarten. We discussed lines and I showed them a
video from United Mainstreaming about lines. They filled out a
worksheet about lines and then listened to the song I Draw the Line
by Greg Percy (volume I) while painting some
lines with black tempera paint
on white paper. The second class
period, we discussed primary colors. They listened to the Greg
Percy song about the primary colors - The Red and Yellow Blues
while they added the
colors to their paintings.
Submitted by Denise
Pannell
Secondary Shapes
Collage Mixed Media
Submitted by Denise
Pannell
Matisse Magic Glue Windows
Henri Matisse did many designs for stained
glass windows. This are like a sandwich: Piece of Acetate
,
watered down Magic Glue
, 4 colors of tissue paper
in fun cut shapes
or ripped into small pieces, more Magic Glue, then another sheet Acetate. Add black "leading" using black Sharpie Markers- find shapes and outline. Good for teaching color mixing
also, because the tissue overlaps and bleeds together. I frame
them in cheap pre-cut white mats. Shapes can be all
non-objective or abstract. Use with From Matisse to You
by Greg Percy (Songs in the Key of
Art Volume II).
Submitted by Denise
Pannell
Cut Paper - Piet Mondrian
 |
A favorite! They look at
Mondrian's work- I am always amazed by what they find;
cities, farms, roads, skyscrapers, and/or Legos. I give them a
12" X 12" (30.5 x 30.5 cm) piece of either black or white paper.
We listen to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy " as they
work on a paper collage. I hand out strips of black,
white, red, blue, and yellow paper - along with small
rectangular pieces of primary colors. Teaches: Primary
colors, neutrals, vertical lines, horizontal lines. Adapt Straight
Lines lesson plan. Use Mondrian by Greg Percy (Songs in the Key of Art volume
II)
Book: Circles And Squares Everywhere! , by Max Grover |
For an easy online activity - see the Mondrian
Machine
Submitted by Denise
Pannell
Mixed Media - JOAN MIRO
Discuss Miro and show examples of his works,
especially the "Carnival of Harlequin
". Pick out
shapes, etc. I tell them to close their eyes and think of made
up worlds- fish riding bicycles, cloud people, etc. They use oil
pastels to create a strange land, making sure to use different
types of line & shape. We add "Decorative Doo-Dads"
or "Stick & Lick" shapes as well. Texture panels
and crayons
could be used in negative spaces to simulate the
burlap texture of some of Miro's works. Try black marker
outlines.
Easy Printmaking:
Bubble
Prints: Put a touch of paint or food coloring in
dishwashing soap. Place a butter dish of each primary color at
each table. Have students blow bubbles through a straw (caution
students not to suck on straw). Move bowls together -
Place 9" x 12" (23 x 30.5 cm) paper on bubbles. Try printing a second
time - moving paper to get some color mixing.
Shaving
cream print Spread thin layer of shaving cream on table
or flat pan. Swirl paint on surface (Prang Watercolors
work
well). Press white paper on surface to print. Wash off excess
shaving cream.
Submitted
by Denise Pannell
FALL REFLECTIONS MONOPRINT (adapted from KinderArt
website)
 |
Fold a piece of white
paper in half the hot dog way. Using oil pastels, add a
row of trees above the fold. Fold the paper up and rub the
back of the trees to make them "jump" to the
other side. (Rulers, metal clips, anything hard will work)
The trees will be fuzzy, but that is O.K. because the
bottom half of the paper will be the reflection of the
trees in the water. |
Using tempera, add the grass above the
fold & fold up and rub so that the grass is printed on to
the bottom half. We used blue liquid watercolor to add the sky
& monoprinted this as well. The last step is to add the
leaves for the trees. We used bottles of tempera (in fall
colors) that have a tip on the end. They dotted the leaves onto
the top row of trees, folded it over, and rubbed. We had lots of
positive feedback on these.
Also check out:
Art
Songs by Robbie Quinn - Recorded collection of songs for
art teachers to use with their students -- ranging in content
from color theory to the elements of art -- composed in a
variety of musical styles to appeal to younger children while
still enjoyable for adults. Listen to some of the selections on line. CD is great bargain!
Resources
CD's
MP3 Albums
MP3 Singles
" by Laurence Anholt and looked at van Gogh's work. The drawings were done with chalk and took 2 class periods. I did find that I
had to go through the steps of adding color with them and not let them
"go at it" on their own or they looked very messy! Click on the images on the right for full size.
by Greg Percy (Songs in the Key of Art
volume I)
by Greg Percy (Volume I) while they
painted their rainbows in correct order - on 10" x 16"
(25.4 x 40.6 cm) white 
