Salt Dough

Each year in 3rd grade students learn about the landscape and landforms of South Carolina. To help them practice this we use salt dough to make our own little South Carolina. Week one is an introduction to the landforms and coloring a template of SC with the colors of the color wheel, one assigned for each type of landform. During week 2 we place a sheet of plastic over our colored sheet of paper and each student is given salt dough to sculpt their SC. They make sure to have the changes in the state where they belong (mountains, flat lands, coastal plains, etc.) and we let them dry for a week or so. Then we spend part of a class period painting our landforms to match our first coloring. They turn out really well and it's a great reinforcement of their science standards.

*The plastic we use is the left overs from the laminating machine. I just keep them cut down to squares in a box and they make great work surfaces for clay or salt dough!

Here's the recipe for Salt Dough. I found it online years ago but I'm not sure where.
If you're able to flip the sculpture over at some point it will help it dry much better. They take a while to dry so be prepared to have them sitting for a week of two depending on the weather!

Salt Dough
2 c all purpose flour + more just in case
1 c salt
almost 1 c warm tap water

Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Add a little bit of water at a time until it feels like dough. You may need to add more flour at this point to keep it from sticking. When the mixture feels right you can begin to make your sculpture. When you are done making your masterpiece place it in a safe place to dry. This can take up to a week depending on the weather. You can store any remaining dough in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Hello, Mister Seahorse!

My love of Eric Carle has spilled over into the latest Kindergarten lesson. Each week I use a letter of the alphabet as the inspiration for the lesson and we are on the letter S. This time we did "S is for Seahorse" and read the book Mister Seahorse. This lesson took two weeks because we painted the papers that we are going to use. Week 1 each student picked a color from the neon paints I found and painted a paper and added a bit of texture. Week 2 each student used a tracing shape that I had made using card stock to trace the shape of a seahorse and cut it out. I was much more concerned with their tracing and cutting skills so I gave them the tracing shapes. After they cut out their seahorses and put the scraps in the recycling bin they came to me and added a googly eye and I put their names on the back with a label written in their teacher specific color. They turned out so cute and make for a very fun bulletin board!

Caterpillar Collage

We are on a collage kick in the art room and 1st grade is no exception. Anyone who know's me will tell you that I absolutly ADORE Eric Carle. I love his books, his prints, everything about him. Because I do so love Mr. Carle I make sure that I use his techniques of painting paper to make collages as much as possible.

In first grade we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and then got started! My first graders spent a few weeks painting papers. We used green with drops of yellow to make the body and reds to make the heads. Then we spent a week tracing and cutting ovals from our painted papers to make our caterpillars. Color a background habitat and you've got yourself one cute caterpillar!

Enjoy!

Color Zoo

Each year when 1st grade uses geometric shapes to make "Ug Bugs" the 2nd graders read Lois Ehlert's Color Zoo and use geometric shapes to make various animals that we might find in a zoo. This falls early in the year so we make sure to review what animals we would find at the zoo and how to use overlapping. We also have a review of how to best use the glue so we don't have a huge mess!

Every once in a while I will have a parent come and ask if I need help and I will usually ask them to use the ellison machine to cut out the geometric shapes in various colors. This is also something that I will leave for a substitue to do during my planning period. It makes it much easier on me when I get ready for this project!

Enjoy a tour of our Color Zoo!

Zebra

Snake
Monkey

Lion



Bear


Flamingo

Bird

Alligator

Perky Penguins!

Once again Pinterest to the rescue! Just when I'm feeling like I need a new idea there they are, waiting for me on my board. It's the best way to keep all of the ideas in my head organized and in a place where I can remember them.

This lesson was done a while ago but I'm just getting around to posting pictures. We made penguins for winter and I think they are just adorable! Lot's of scissors, glue and ribbon. (All of my favorite things!)

I did this lesson with 2nd grade and they turned out fantastic, such personality. The background is a sheet of construction paper, however I would like to have a painted paper background next time. Then we did construction paper for the body, head, etc. I found some fun holiday paper that the kids used for the ear muffs. This is also a fun way to use wrapping paper.

Take a look at our penguins!