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Bluebirds of happiness
Arts & Activities, April, 2004 by Pat Johns
Children love to work with paints. For this reason, I have developed an art lesson for kindergartners that they thoroughly enjoy. Because this lesson can get messy and because of its theme, it is introduced to my classes toward the end of the school year. By that time, the students are familiar with the art room and have learned how to take care of their art supplies. They have also become much better and faster with cleanup procedures.
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We start things off by looking at a bare, winter tree branch. We talk about the limbs and how they protrude. Long, narrow paper, paints and brushes are handed out. With brown paint, the children are instructed on how to paint a thick branch coming onto the paper from the left-hand edge. I show them how the limbs come out from both the top and bottom of the branch. They are also shown how the limbs grow in the same direction as the branch. As they paint their tree branches, I show them how to add black lines all through the branches and limbs to show texture or roughness.
Before changing from black to brown paint, I remind them about keeping the paints clean. In order to keep the colors clean, they must remember to give their brushes a "good bath and dry them with a towel."
I now talk about spring coming, asking the children, "What happens to the empty branches?"
In response to my question, leaves start to sprout on the students' branches as they are shown how to dab green paint all over the limbs to create the impression of leaves.
At this point, most of the children are anxious to paint a sun in the sky. We discuss other ways to show that the sun is shining. Rather than paint the actual sun, they are shown how to paint sunlight by dabbing yellow paint onto the green leaves.
We then talk about the birds arriving because it's springtime and the weather has become warmer. Since we are all so happy to be painting, I explain that we will be painting "bluebirds of happiness."
To the students' surprise, they will not be using brushes. Instead, they will be using yarn "puff-balls" with which to print the bodies of three birds with blue paint. They dip the puff-balls into the paint and press wherever they would like each bird to sit on their branch. (The children are limited to three birds; otherwise, some of them get carried away and cover the entire picture with birds!)
To finish the painting, I show pictures of birds from both front and side views as we talk about the different parts of a bird. I then finish my own picture by painting both front and side views on the birds, showing eyes, a beak and feet.
The children are now anxious to finish their paintings. They use their own ideas, as well as my instructions, to complete their artworks.
When the paintings are dry, the children are happy to take them home to show their parents. In addition to their artworks, they take with them more knowledge about using tempera paints, adding texture and highlights to a painting and, finally, how to observe the world around them more closely.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will ...
* discuss what happens to tree branches as winter turns to spring, and how limbs grow out from tree branches.
* learn painting techniques to render sunlight and texture.
* use alternative tools with which to paint with tempera.
* learn the basic parts of birds.
* become more observant of the world around them.
Pat Johns teaches art at Cold Springs School in Gloucester City, N.J.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
