Welcome to the classroom! We love to play, learn, create and sing together in the classroom, and we’d like to encourage our classroom friends to keep learning and playing at home once Caitie’s Classroom is over. We’ve put together activities and resources so the playing, learning, creating and singing doesn’t have to stop once Caitie says goodbye. Try these out at home or in your own classroom, and have fun!
In this episode of Caitie’s Classroom, the classroom is an art studio and we are artists! We learn about different ways to make art and try to make some art of our own. Here are breakdowns of all the activities we do in the classroom so you can follow along with Caitie, or try them on your own. Read on below for lots of art activities, crafts and fun for the classroom and at home!
Abstract Art
Caitie teaches us about abstract art! Abstract art is a modern form of art that doesn’t look exactly like other things around us. It might make you think, or laugh, or feel something new. Abstract art can be anything you can imagine!
You can make your own abstract art the way Caitie does in the classroom, but you can use whatever art supplies you have at home and use your own creativity! Start by taking a marker or crayon, and draw some squiggly lines on a piece of paper. You can make different shapes, or make one big shape without your marker leaving the paper, like Caitie did. Then fill in the different sections using whatever you have at home! Crayons, markers, paint, feathers, glitter, pom poms, construction paper, stickers… anything you like.
As you are creating your art, take a look at the whole thing and start to think about what it might look like to you. It might not look like anything! Or it might look like different things to different people. There are no rules! It might make you feel something when you look at it or make you laugh. Based on what you see and feel, come up with a title for your abstract masterpiece. Don’t forget to write your name somewhere on your piece of art so everyone knows who the artist is!
Frames
In the classroom, we have a paper frame that we made for our abstract art piece. A simple paper frame is a great way to make a simple piece of art look really special.
You can cut out some simple frames from construction paper and decorate them with stickers or crayons. Make some frames for a few art pieces that you can put up around your house or on your fridge. You can even make a pretend art gallery with all your creations framed.
Creative Coloring
Artists can get creative with the colors they chose. So we got creative with our coloring books! Try picking different colors than you might normally choose and see how your picture turns out. You can pick them yourself, or play a game with the Super Simple color spinner! You can find the coloring page Caitie uses in the classroom on the last page of the color spinner resource. For details on how to play and for more learning ideas with creative coloring, see our Creative Coloring post.
Glass Blowing Art Studio
In this episode, Caitie visits Glen Williams Glass, a glass blowing studio where real artists create their art out of glass. There are lots of different ways to make art, including glass. To learn more about the glass artists we met, please visit their websites.
Making Different Kinds of Art
You can try making different kinds of art too! Pick one thing to make a picture of, like an underwater scene with fish and seaweed, and then try to create the picture a few different ways. Try using crayons, or watercolor paints. Then try to make it using collage with pieces of cut out paper, or out of dough to make a sculpture. How do the art pieces look different? How are they the same?
Let’s Pretend
Using our imagination is a big part of making art. We pretend to be a painter and make a beautiful painting in our imagination as Caitie reads from The Book Of Pretending. You can use your imagination to make art a few different ways.
- Put on some music and let the music move your imagination to create something on a blank piece of paper with crayons or markers.
- Try closing your eyes and drawing something. See what kind of art you make when you have to concentrate on your other senses.
- Use your imagination to make different kinds of art, like glass blowing. You can do this in your head, or act it out and pretend.
- Close your eyes and imagine making art inside your head. You can draw or paint, make a sculpture or try glass blowing! Encourage your little ones to describe what they created to you. Grown ups can try this activity too and describe the art piece they made in their heads to their little ones! This is a great way to encourage verbal communication and imaginative thinking!
We hope you have fun singing, playing, learning, and creating! We love to see photos of our friends having fun in the classroom and of their wonderful creations! You can share them with us a few different ways:
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