Calaveras!

This is my favorite Day of the Dead project thus far...mainly because it's fairly easy and has awesome results. 

We've been discussing and learning about the Day of the Dead, a joyous Mexican holiday celebrating the lives of departed loved ones. An iconic image associated with Day of the Dead is a Calavera or skull. So, we made these awesome pinterest inspired 'sugar skulls' out of paper plates!

I made some templates of the skull shape which makes everything easier. The kids always have the "art challenge" option where they can draw their own, but tracing isn't that big of a deal on something like this. 

We decorate the 'calavera' with black sharpie and color in with washable markers. 

I set some printed skulls out for inspiration.

After the decorating is done, we glued the skull to piece of black paper which was embellished with oil pastel designs. 

And finally, we added sequins to jazz it all up. 

(2nd graders!)

This nose looks like a mouth (to me) which gives it this crazy alien head look that is so striking!

Sugar skull with glasses

Barriletes!

I recently attended a workshop at Cheekwood all about El Dia de los Muertos. It was super fun and I thought I'd try some of the projects with my kiddos. I've always wanted to teach a Day of the Dead lesson but never felt like I had all the facts right...and now I feel pretty good about it..hence all the fun DOD projects.Enjoy!

2nd Grade Barriletes

Barriletes is the tradition of flying kites on November 1st. The kites serve as a symbolic connection to departed loved ones. The kites are believed to help guide their spirits back to their families for El Dia de los Muertos. 

4th Grade Barriletes

More Information about Barriletes: 

      

"In Sumpango, Guatemala, a unique tradition has developed. For months, groups work to build giant kites. The kites frames are made of bamboo and the kites themselves are made of tissue paper. The designs are incredibly intricate and often hold a political message."

It's Robot Time...in Kindergarten

I love doing my Robot and Monster units with my kinder kids. They always love this and let's face it. Kindergarten drawings of robots are super cool. 

Day One: We look at an awesome book with lots of robots in it. Then I do a guided robot drawing with them. They do this with a pen on free draw paper...save it for later and when they get done with their collage they can color this. 

During this hour, we also create our basic Robot collage with gray paper. We glue down a head, body, arms/hands, legs/feet. Next class we will add buttons and designs using different color construction paper.

 I usually can't resist and get the googly eyes out. 

Pop Art Paintings

This is a first time project for me. I wanted my 3rd graders to get some Lichtenstein-ness in this year, hence this "word art" project. I also get to squeeze in some onomatopoeia with this lesson, which looks nice on paper.


Day One: Discuss Pop Art....and famous artists like Warhol, Lichtenstein, Oldenburg, Thiebaud...
Practice drawing a word with block/bubble letters. Choose an onomatopoeic word to display with a shape reflecting that word's sound effect...
Paint lines in black tempera.

Day Two: We will paint with primary colors...photos coming soon.