Elementary Projects for Valentine's Day

Looking for projects inspired by Valentine's Day?  Check out the lessons I created with K-3!  Some projects were inspired by other lessons I have found over the years, so I tried to share the blog posts from other teachers who inspired my lessons.

Romero Britto Heart Paintings with Kindergarten

Materials: Pencil, Paper, Black Marker, Tempura Cake Paints

Duration: 1-40 minute class period

Directions: Start by sharing pictures of Britto's art with your kindergarteners!  Share how he created designs in each space of his art, such as dots, lines, colors, etc...now's the fun part!  Have your binders practice drawing hearts!  Some may struggle at first, but once they get the loop and points, they'll go crazy with their hearts!  Using pencils, have students create one or more hearts to fill their paper, then draw in lines and shapes.  Once done, use a black marker to trace, then tempura cakes to paint in the spaces!

Contour Hearts with 1st Grade

Materials: Heart Templates, Pencils, Paper, Oil Pastels, Tempura Cake Paints

Duration: 2-40 minute class periods

Directions: For Day 1, start by talking about how the hearts can overlap (one in front of the other).  Have the students use heart stencils to trace out about 10 hearts (overlapping to fit them in the paper).  Once traced, have students use oil pastels to trace, color in, or add patterns to each heart.  On day 2, have students finish filling in the hearts with oil pastels and fill in the rest of teh paper with tempura cake paint!

Symmetry Hearts with 2nd Grade

Materials: 9 x 12 colored paper, 12 x 18 colored paper, pencils, scissors, glue

Duration: 1-40 unite class period

Directions: As a one class project, the object is to have students achieve the illusion of symmetry with the heart design.  Using the 9 x 12 paper, draw half of a heart, cut the shape out, then glue the outer piece to the edge of the 12 x 18 paper.  Draw another heart inside of the already-cut heart, cut it out, and glue on the opposite side.  Draw, cut out, and glue down about 3 more heart shapes and you have a finished piece!

Positive/Negative Space Hearts with 3rd Grade

Materials: 9 x 12 colored paper, 12 x 18 colored paper, small baggies, pencils, scissors, glue

Duration: 2-40 minute class periods

Directions: On day 1, talk about positive/negative space in art.  Using the 9 x 12 colored paper, draw and cut out a heart shape.  On each side of the heart, draw and cut out shaped that will be reflected in the finished artwork.  Please Note:  Use the baggies to store the pieces once they are cut out.  This prevents any lost pieces, plus it's 100% easier with clean up.  Once all pieces are cut out, glue down the big heart.  On day 2, show the students how to glue the pieces down to reflect the empty space.  Not all students will finish right away, you will see that it may take the entire time for many students.

This project was also achieved by many other schools and can be found here for 5th grade and here for 6th grade.

Love Paintings (Inspired by Robert Indiana) with 3rd Grade

Materials: LOVE Stencils, 10.5 x 10.5 white paper, Pencils, Black Markers, Tempura Paint

Duration: 2-40 minute class periods

Directions: On day 1, we discussed the artwork of Robert Indiana, then folded the white paper to make 4 squares.  We then began tracing stencils to spell out L-O-V-E in each square.  Students then began painting colors in the letters and in the backgrounds.  On Day 2, students finished up on painting.  If they finished on the first day, each letter was traced with marker to cover any loose paint lines.

Here's another variation of the lesson!

Heart-Shaped Coil Pottery with 3rd Grade

Materials: Ceramic Clay (or air dry clay), Water, Canvas, Desired Paint (Glaze or Acrylic)

Duration: 2 40-minute class periods

Directions: On Day 1, discuss how to create a coil pot using ceramic clay.  Start with rolling a small amount of clay into a ball, flattening it down then rolling coils to wrap around the flat base.  Use the water for the slip process to make the coils stay together once dry.  Once the pot is completed, pinch the top and bottom of the top of the pot to form the heart shape.  On your own, fire the pottery for your next step.  On Day 2, (depending on your resources) paint the pots using either glaze (if kiln is easily accessible) or acrylic paint (if you can't fire again).  

More Valentine's Day Projects on Pinterest

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Claes Oldenburg Inspired Cheeseburgers with 2nd Grade!

Claes Oldenburg (born January 28, 1929) is an American sculptor, who is known for his installations of large sculptures of everyday objects. He is also known for making soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. Many of his works were made in collaboration with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen. Oldenburg, now 88 years old, lives and works in New York city.

His cherry on spoon fountain is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  

In 2nd grade, we focus on quite a few "pop" artists, and Claes is first on our list.  One of the most visited artworks for project inspiration is his sculpture "Two Cheeseburgers."  I have seen collages made in so many different styles for elementary projects, it's hard to narrow down the exact person who's started introducing Claes's projects in their classroom.  I would like to share a board from a fellow #Artsed #PLN member, Donna Staten, who organized many Pinterest boards for art teacher use.  This link goes directly to the board (created by Donna) dedicated to Claes Oldenburg.  

My 2nd grade students create two projects inspired by Claes Oldenburg's work.  The first project is a popular one, the stacked cheeseburger.  In creating this project, students learn how to stack, overlap, and add details to make the collage appear more textured.

Materials

-10.5" x 16" black paper

-12" x 18" colored paper for frame

-Each color paper cut down to 6" x 12"

      *Light brown or mustard (bun)

      *Brown (hamburger)

      *Yellow (cheese, mustard, and fries)

      *Red (tomato, ketchup, bacon)

      *Green (lettuce, pickles)

      *White (onion, bun seeds)

-Scissors

-Glue

-Pencils

-Crayons

Directions

This project takes about 2 40-minute class periods.

Day 1: Use the first 10 minutes to go over the artworks and biography of Claes Oldenburg. Once finished, demonstrate how to begin the collage.  Start with the bottom bun and work your way to the top.  The students want to see how you complete each step, and with the limited amount of time, I share how to create the bun, hamburger, cheese, onion, and lettuce.  Show students how to fold the paper in half, then draw a shape from the fold:

*The bun, hamburger, tomato, and onion will be a rainbow.

*The cheese will be a triangle

*The Lettuce will be a wavy rainbow.

After the shapes are cut out, show how to glue the pieces down.  Demonstrate how to stack halfway up and not directly on top of each other.  Use the crayons to draw in the textures of each layer.

Day 2: Use the first few minutes to go over what was started.  Continue to demonstrate how to create mustard/ketchup, pickles, bacon, the top bun, seeds, flag, and fries if needed.  Once students have completed their cheeseburgers, have them frame their paper to display.  Here are a few examples of the finished products!

Once the collages are done, we move into the second project, which is the sculpture!

Materials

-Primary classpack of Model Magic (red, yellow, blue, white)

-Pencils

-Baggies (to store unused clay)

-Small plates (students write their names on the plates)

Directions

This project is for one 40 minute class period. The size of the cheeseburgers will be small, almost like the students are making food for their dolls! The students will be mixing the primary colors to make their own green and brown.  Give each student a small plate to write their name on.  Once projects are dry, you can place the small plate and projects in baggies to hand back.

Start by having students mix their greens (blue and yellow) and browns.  The buns requires a little of each (red, yellow, blue, white) for the lighter color, and the hamburger requires just the three primary colors.

Next, show the students what forms need to be made for each layer of the cheeseburger.  Make sure you practice making the example beforehand.

Once students are done with the cheeseburger, they can use extra clay is available to make accessories, like fries, milkshakes, chicken nuggets, and more!

Here are a few finished examples!

Navajo-Inspired Rugs with 2nd Grade

     (photo found in Google images)

(an example of a Navajo rug)

Navajo rugs are textiles created by the Navajo people of North America.  The rugs have been a  highly sought after item of trade for over 150 years.  When I worked in textile restoration (before teaching), I enjoyed restoring Navajo rugs and woven pieces from private collectors.  Before the 19th century, Navajo weaving coloration was mostly natural brown, white, and indigo. Over time, the colors expanded to include red, black, green, yellow, and gray.  

I came across a project from a book created by Denise Logan called "Amazing Art Projects for Children."  In the book, Denise shows step by step instructions on designing the rug patterns on paper.  I adapted by own methods for creating the rugs with my schedules and materials, which I list below:

Materials
-9 x 12 70 lb. or greater white paper
-Black permanent marker
-Colored washable markers
-Hole punch
-Various colors of yarn
-Ruler
-Pencil
-Examples of Navajo patterns
-Scissors

Objectives
The 2nd grade students learned about Navajo culture within their classrooms.  For the project, students are introduced to the tradition of Navajo weaving and attempt to create their own design.  With the yarn, students learn how to loop and fringe their finished paper "rugs."

Directions
This projects takes about 3-4 40-minute class periods to complete.

Day 1:  I started with a discussion about the myths and traditions of weaving with the Navajo people.  I found this description that I share with my students:

         It is said that Spider Woman taught Navajos of long ago the art of weaving. She told them, "My husband, Spider Man, constructed the weaving loom making the cross poles of Sky and Earth cords to support the structure; the warp sticks of sun rays, lengthwise to cross the wool; the heddles of rock crystal and sheet lightning, to maintain original condition of fibers. For the batten, he chose a sun halo to seal joints, and for the comb he chose a white shell to clean strands in a combing manner." – Spirit of the Weaving Comb

I created a pattern example sheet from scrounging around my Pinterest boards:

Hand out the 9 x 12 white paper and have students create their own designs using the Navajo patterns as examples.  Once students are done drawing, have them trace in black permanent marker.  Use washable markers to color in the spaces.

Day 2:  Review the steps to create the patterns.  Finish tracing and try to have students finish coloring the entire page.  On your own, crumble the paper, dip in water, and un-crumble to create a tie-dye effect.  If you have a spray bottle, that will work too!  I lay out the wet paper on larger sheets of paper on the drying rack for support.  Once dry fold the paper in half and poke a total of 7 holes on the edge, so there are 14 holes total.

Day 3:  With most of the projects ready and hole-punched, Demonstrate to the students what length of yarn to cut, how many, and how to tie the fringe.  You may have students still finishing their coloring this day, as well as taking their time to fringe.

Day 4:  All projects should be tie-dyed (pre-dipped and hole-punched) and ready for fringe.  Have students complete the fringe and hand in their work.  I have students write their artists statements on a separate sheet of paper with their rubric.

Here are some finished examples!