Year Prep & 1 Rainbow Collage

Students listened to a song called Roy G. Biv by Greg Percy. Each letter of this name is the first letter of a colour of the rainbow. They drew their rainbow colours with oil pastels, and then cut their paper into strips with interesting lines. Lastly they arranged the strips in a puzzle-like collage.

Year Prep & Prep/1C Watercolour Fish

First we read part of a book on fish and discussed how fish breath. Next using oil pastel students learned via a guided lesson how to draw a simple fish. Lastly students used watercolour paint to bring their fish to life.

Year Prep & Year 1 Roy G. Biv Drawings

Students listened to a song called Roy G. Biv by Greg Percy. Each letter of this name is the first letter of a colour of the rainbow. Students drew a picture of what they thought Roy might look like!

Prep & P/1C Bead Snakes

First we read The Singing Snake by Stefan Czernecki and Timothy Rhodes, which is based on an Aboriginal legend about how the didgeridoo was first made. This book also has an underlying theme about honesty and playing fair. Students then threaded beads in patterns onto a pipe cleaner and added bead or button eyes to make their own snake.

Prep Claydough Sculptures

Preps had fun using Claydough and matchsticks, icy pole sticks, buttons, pipe cleaners and straws to create unique sculptures!

Prep & Year 1 Patterns

We watched a couple of short videos about pattern, and discussed how patterns could be made in colour, shape, texture or in any combination of those. Students filled their long strings with as many patterns as they could make using colourful, textured and various shaped wooden beads.

Prep & Year 1: Pastel Painted Pasta Pattern Picture

First we discussed patterns and read about City Patterns. Students had fun gluing their pasta patterns onto a cardboard square, and then painted these with acrylic paint in a pastel colour. We discussed the art element, VALUE, which refers to the lightness or darkness of a colour. The base paint they used had white added to it. We also had fun trying to say the tongue-twister: pastel painted pasta pattern picture!

Prep & Year 1 Stamping Pictures

Students created pictures with shape stamps. In Prep/1C we read the book Miss Rumphius and students stamped a picture of a flower.

Prep & Year 1 Magiclay Toothpots

Magiclay is a type of smooth, white modelling clay made of paper. It is easily molded by little fingers and looks a bit like marshmallow. Students made their toothpot and then painted it with pearl acrylic paint the following week. They were very excited about having this very handy pot on their bedside table to hold a tooth when necessary!

Prep & P/1C Claydough Names

Prep & P/1C Claydough Echidna

We read a fun, rhyming book about Australian animals and then students modelled an echidna using claydough, which is a modelling clay halfway between real clay and playdough in consistency.

Prep & P/1C Origami Dog Stick Puppet

We first looked at a book called Spot a Dog which shows famous paintings that all contain dogs. Next students folded a dog head and decorated this with crayons. These were then glued onto a stick to create a puppet.

Prep & P/1C Colour Train

After listening to The Cat, the Mouse and the Runaway Train students painted their train engine using primary colour acrylic paint. They also painted a separate food dye wash background paper with white pastel resist lines. To finish their project students cut out their trains and glued these onto the background.

Prep & Prep/1C Colour Wheel Flower

We reviewed primary and secondary colours and students drew concentric circles and petals before painting their flower with tempera paint. The following week students used small brushes and black acrylic paint to outline their colour wheel flower.

Prep & Prep/1 C Fine Motor Skills: Multi Media Shapes Picture

First we discussed primary and secondary colours and looked at a short Colour Wheel video. Students outlined their shapes with oil pastel and painted these with primary colour acrylic. The following week, a secondary colour wash was added to the background. Lastly students outlined their shapes again with oil pastel. We discussed how the shapes were not painted perfectly, and that this is okay and that sometimes happens in art. This provided an easy introduction to abstract art and we looked at the book I Spy Two Eyes and compared abstract art to "real life" art.

Term 2: Prep & Prep/1C Mixed Up Chameleons

This term our visual arts learning focus across all levels will be on painting and construction. In the first week of the term we read Eric Carle's Mixed Up Chameleon. In the story the chameleon wishes he was a different animal, but soon realises that it's best to be himself. Students drew wonderful chameleons using oil pastel and then painted it with watercolour paints.

Prep & P/1C: Come Over to My House Collage

Prep A, B, and Prep/1C created colourful seaside houses by cutting, pasting and drawing after listening to Come Over to My House by Theo LeSieg. The story takes children around the world visiting houses in many different countries. We also discussed primary and secondary colours, and students used paper in these colours for their houses.

Prep & Year 1: Little Owls

Prep and Year 1 students first listened to the story of Little Owl. Little Owl falls from his nest. He wants to discover "woo" he is and tries to be like other Australian animals. He soon realises he is an owl and finds his way back to his mother. Students drew an owl outline, branch, stars and a moon, then tore paper to make owl feathers for their own Little Owl.

Prep & P/1C: Making Marks - Fine Motor Skills

In Week 2 Prep and P/1C grades had fun with oil pastels and experimented drawing a variety of marks using different parts of the pastel and a range of motions on the paper. They enjoyed naming the marks based on how each one looked, I.e. lightning, butterfly, snail, etc.

Prep & P/1C: Colour for Curlews

This week I introduced Preps and P/1C to primary and secondary colours by reading Colour for Curlews. They also enjoyed drawing on scratch film paper with a wooden stylus to reveal the rainbow colours underneath! This term in the classroom one theme is Me and My Family, so they drew with this in mind.