Cardinals in 2nd grade

I've done cardinals in many different ways over the years, and this year with a little help from Art for Kids Hub, we've created another version!  We put our cardinals on evergreen branches to make them more of a winter project since we're hoping for some more snow before spring!  Well, at least I am, but my coworkers may not be! :)

For the pine needle "leaves" the students have a few guidelines to follow.  The needles must be as long as their index finger, they should be at least 2 shades of green, and they should be close enough that some of them touch, but not all of them.  This way we end up with fuller branches and no Charlie Brown Christmas trees. Ha!

Grant Wood Pumpkin Farms!

This one of those awesome projects that I repeat for 2nd grade every year.  It's great for teaching depth as well as foreground, midground, and background. 

Sneak peek of cardinals on branches

These are turning out great, I can't wait to share the finished projects!

2nd grade Christmas trees

These super quick Christmas trees turned out to be just the right project for my 2nd graders this year.  They were able to finish them quickly and still learn a thing or two about line, shape, and of course the color wheel!

2nd grade Pumpkin Farms

I changed this project slightly this year by allowing students to color their hillsides and pretty much everything except their pumpkins unrealistically!  I love the colorful results!  Their pumpkins had to be orange, but other than that, anything was fine.  We drew these together and colored them with our favorite crayola color sticks!

Raccoons in winter!

Hopefully we've seen the last of wintry weather for our area!  2nd graders finished up their winter raccoons just in time! 

Bicycles!

I saw an idea for this on one of the art blogs I follow and I'm so glad I tried it with 2nd grade!  We drew the bicycle step by step.  Then added the strips to the bottom and the background details with construction paper crayons.

Hawaiian Shirt Origami!

I have lots of Origami lesson plans, but few are really appropriate for younger grades.  These Hawaiian shirts are just the right level for 2nd grade!  They loved making these.  We decorated them with construction paper crayons when we finished the folding.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the students' finished shirts!  They were too excited to take them home the day we made them!  I just couldn't disappoint! :)

Color Wheel Umbrellas

Everything looks better in color, right?  Even a rainy day!!  2nd grade has been learning about the color wheel!  We've discussed analogous colors, warm/cool colors, complementary colors, and primary/secondary colors. The easiest way for students to draw the sections was to make them even, which messes up the accuracy of the color wheel a bit, but you could always modify to make it more accurate.  These are so bright and beautiful and perfect for Spring!!  

Shabby Chic Valentine

2nd grade is working on these beautiful Shabby Chic Valentines.  I love the texture and colors in them.  We are also practicing some shading with paint and learning about high lights, form, texture and how to make things look round and three-dimensional.  I have a final step planned for these... but I like the way they look right now so I'm thinking I may skip that step! :)