Art Lesson - K-1 - Collage Owls

Today I did an art lesson with a K-1 combo class. This was the kindergarteners first experience with smARTS and they did very well indeed!

I had learned from the teacher that the first graders were learning about animals and their habitats, and being nearly Autumn and all, owls came to my mind.

I got this idea from Mrs Brown Art. I just didn't have it in me to come up with my very own idea. This being the first lesson of the year, it just kind of crept up on me. Thank you internet for the quick ideas!!

I first talked about collage and gave a brief description of it. We also talked about where an owl would live, and one little girl mentioned that they were nocturnal.... so they were already very informed! I gave them a large piece of black construction paper, and I had them draw with pencil the basic outline of an owl, while following my instructions. Again, I had to emphasize to make the owl big.

I then had them tear strips of brown construction paper (they had a few browns to choose from). This was good practice for them. After they had a good supply of large strips, I had them make the strips smaller to be more like actual feathers. They glued them on, and I told them to use not too much, nor too little glue.

After most were done with the feathers, I had them cut 2 large circles with a light color. I had them fold a piece of paper and cut two. This is always good for K-1 to have extra practice using scissors. It's not like when I was a kid these days. They really do not have a lot of practice in simple things like cutting paper. We did the same with the black part of the eyes. Then a beak and feet. And a branch too. I ran out of time, or I would have had them add leaves to the branch.

The above was done by one of the first graders. She thought of adding the "horns" herself, which was unique.

And this whimsical owl with a more 3-D look to it was created by a kindergartener. Pretty good for a brand new little one to the public school!