Van Gogh adventures in the art room!

    I have had many friends ask how I do some of things that I do!  So I figured I would give blogging a try and see if this would be a good forum for sharing those ideas!!  So here goes and please be kind because I am totally a baby blogger in the midst of some real professionals!! Ha!!
    First off let me say that I absolutely love being an art teacher, it's exciting and so much fun to watch children step out of their comfort zones and get creative!!  Not all children are thrilled about that, shocker!!! However in my art room, there are no mistakes there are just opportunities to try something new, to head in a new direction!  I often tell my students to keep going and see what happens, if you really don't like it we can start over.  I always try and push them a little and a lot of the time they end up really liking it.  What's so great about this process is that there is power in the "not giving up"  just like life, at times we want to throw in the towel, to give up, to start over.  The problem with that is we miss out on the beauty of the "process", we learn things about ourselves, we find value in the fact that we didn't give up and usually we end up better for it in the end!  I know  it's just pencils, paint and paper, but I take every opportunity to shape and mold that I can get!!  For me it's about so much more than just art, it's about special moments with these kids and I'm so blessed that the Lord has chosen an art room to be the vessel for his work and I am embracing it 100%!!  I'm that kinda girl that jumps feet first and gives it all she has!! I may have a few bruises to prove it but why not give it all you have, life is all about moments and I'm going to make the most of them!! 
   So here is what we've done in the art room so far this year!!
We had an amazing art project at the beginning of the year focused on Van Gogh and the Starry Night.  These kids are AHHHMAZING!!!! I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun this was and to watch their faces light up when the results of their paintings even surprised them!!
This was a 3rd-5th grade project:

I would love to take credit for this awesome idea but I borrowed it from the deepspacesparkle.com website, I made a few alterations but the original idea came from there!!! I love this website and it is a great resource for any art teacher or if you want to do it at home with your kids!! 
This lesson was so much fun, not only did we learn a little bit about Van Gogh and his style of painting but we also applied it to our lives as Christians.  I used Philippians 2:14-15: "Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky."  We had great conversations about what it means to be "lights in a dark world", the students were able to take their art lesson and apply to their everyday life!!

Materials used:
black sulphite paper 
tempera paint
flat brushes
Oil pastel for the tree and village

Another Van Gogh art project with 1st & 2nd graders

 

Hope you enjoy this!!!
Blessings
Candi