Here's a project that uses a wide range of media (oil pastel, construction paper and tempera paints) as well as a range of skills. My Kindergarteners and 1st graders first cut a folded piece of paper into a shape to create a symmetrical vase. This could be folded in half and painted to create a symmetrical design or just painted freely. A table cloth in oil pastel was created and the vase glued. After drawing stems, the children were to create flowers using tissue paper. This they found to be the most challenging. For those frustrated trying to cut petal shapes, I showed them how to create scrunched flower shapes. They all are bold, bright and wonderfully different!
To adapt the Dia de Los Muertos skull project for my kindergarteners I created a large simple skull shape to be traced in oil pastel. The paper was folded in half lengthwise. The children were instructed to create eye, nose and mouth shapes on the left side only. Next they were to create designs, flowers and shapes (on the left side again only). The paper was folded in half and rubbed with the back of our safety scissors to create a decorative symmetrical face shape. After going over the design again in oil pastel, the shapes were painted with watercolors.
Dia de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and other Latin American countries in conjunction with All Saints Day, honoring loved ones who have passed on. It is not meant to be scary, but rather a day for the whole family to remember their loved ones. Scholars have traced this holiday back thousands of years to the Aztecs. My 2nd and 3rd graders did these fabulous pieces.
Need a "go to" project for rainy days with bored kids? Salt dough is easy to make and has endless possibities. Just 4 cups flour/ 1 cup salt/ and 1-2 cups water and you have enough dough for a variety of creations. My kindergartenders and 1st graders made these cute owls. After a simple lesson in shaping the dough bodies and pinching the ears and beaks, they created the eyes using the bottoms of glue sticks. I gave them toothpicks and encouraged them to create textures using the sides and the points. These baked for about 3 hours at 300*. The following week they painted them with acrylics and I gave them a coat of Mod Podge to seal them and give them a nice finish. These would make cute paper weights or maybe a little decoration in a houseplant.
And of course Swimmy himself, was done in black. A few children opted to give him some look alike family members. This was a very messy but fun project! Some of the Mom's recalled the book from their childhood which made it all the more meaningful.
Yet another wonderful idea from Deep Space Sparkle! My 2nd and 3rd graders first chose whether they wanted a warm or a cool sky. We went over again what exactly this meant. After decoupaging the ripped tissue sky onto our 11X14 posterboard, they cut birch tree shapes out of white card stock. They were encouraged to vary the lengths and the widths to give the winter forest some dimension. Shadows and details were added and then the trees glued to the background. Lastly they painted diagnal shadows cast from the trees and optionally some growth from the snow. I think the results are so striking. 
These beautiful trees were created using only primary colors, "double dipping" their brushes to create trees in green, orange and purple. I love how this project was a lesson in color mixing for my Pre K's - 1st Graders, as well as a quick lesson in Impressionism. I brought out the book,"Lydia in Monet's Garden" to show some examples of the strong display of brush strokes.
