Clever Snowy Tree Resists by Grade 1

This lesson was inspired by an idea I saw on the art blog, The Clever Feather. I tweaked it a bit, but it is basically the same lesson. The first grade did such a great job which was wonderful because I gave them the difficult task of coloring white on white! They needed to fill in their triangle trees with white crayon. Some got creative with their trees by combining more than one triangle for their final tree shape. Then we talked about how and why the crayon trees would resist absorbing the watercolor paint they were going to use for their snow and sky. Next the students used trays of watercolors to paint in the sky and snowy ground. Instead of trays of the typical 8 colors, I provided them with trays of more unique colors like turquiose, magenta, green-blue, light pink. Using combinations of these colors with a wet-on-wet painting technique, they created beautiful skies and landscapes for their artwork.

One of my favorite things about art is that even when all the children are given the EXACT same set of step-by-step directions, their individuality always shines through in the end.

I hope you enjoy these examples of their work...

I love the hills in this one!

These trees make me smile!