Grades:
Kindergarten
Materials:
- Pictures of Impressionist painters
- 12" pizza boxes
- Vinyl pieces
- Elmer's Glue
- White and green fabric
- Wood shavings
- Plastic garbage bags
Procedure:
I just completed a 3 week art activity at the kindergarten center
entitled, "CLAUDE MONET'S PIZZA DAY". We started the activity by
discussing WHERE WE FIND ART....(not just in museums- it is found in
our home designs, in our furniture, in our clothes and even in the food
that we prepare and eat.) We looked at the work of the IMPRESSIONISTS
and learned to paint using their brush stroke techniques.
We used 12"
cardboard pizza rounds and painted our "sauce". Next, we added toppings
by using brown vinyl automobile seat cover material that had a waffle texture
to it. We learned how to "clip corners" to make round pieces of pepperoni
from square shapes. We found out what the stop sign (octagon) shape was in
the process. This technique of clipping corners keeps the students from
starting a spiral cut along one edge and getting progressively smaller
until they have only a tiny circular shape remaining. (No one likes a pizza
with only tiny bits of pepperoni!).
Then we used a tan, smooth buckskin
looking vinyl to cut small mushroom pieces in random shapes. We used
green fabric binding as green pepper pieces and off white, flimsy fabric
edging for onions to add DETAILS. We had a variety of TEXTURES. Next, we
used diluted Elmer's glue to paint around our shapes and then adhered wood
shavings from the woodworking planer for our mozzarella cheese! (Some of the
students told me that they used this in their hamster cages....I told them
that I never knew they put mozzarella cheese in the cages!!). Use a large
plastic garbage bag to allow the students to reach in and "double cheese"
their own pizzas!
After we had constructed our "pizzas" we again discussed
...is it pizza or is it art?? The final week of the activity involved the
local Domino's Pizza. They donated enough pizza boxes for each student
to take home their pizza in. We discussed ADVERTISING ART. We were fortunate
enough to have the manager of our Domino's come into the kindergarten center
and, with all 5 classes together, demonstrated how to toss the pizza dough.
We talked about TEXTURES of the dough and the cornmeal. At the end of the
demonstration, we served REAL pizza and pop to all the students. I found
all the "TOPPINGS" at the local second hand store and Domino's gave us a great
deal on the cost of the real pizzas! The students learned a lot about the
principles and elements of design and also reviewed cutting, gluing and
painting techniques.
I have a feeling that this lesson will be remembered
every time a frozen pizza is put into the oven!
Alternate
Lesson: Pop Art as inspiration
Elementary Art Lessons
