Van Gogh Inspired Collage

     Do you have all this extra tissue paper and do not know what to do with all of it?  This Van Gogh Inspired Collage is the perfect solution.  First, start with a dark colored sheet of construction paper to represent the sky.  Then, cover the whole sheet with different colored tissue paper.  Make sure to overlap the tissue paper to create some color variation.  The tissue paper is then glued down with some glossy acrylic paint.  Make sure to paint over the tissue paper as well as the rest of the construction paper to create a glossy feel.  Once the glue has dried completely, using oil pastels cover your new tissue paper filled sky with different lines showing movement.  To complete this project use a sheet of black construction paper and create a landscape over your tissue papered sky.  I chose a sailboat and water as my landscape to fit with my cool colored sky.  Below my artwork is a yellow sheet of paper with three facts about Vincent Van Gogh to complete the project.
     An extension activity for this project could be creating a habitat for an animal your students pick that live in a certain biome learned in science.  If a student picks a prairie dog, they would have to create a habitat for that prairie dog.  They might include some grass, a few trees, and of course the prairie dog.  Below their artwork, the students can include three facts about the biome that goes along with the animal they chose.

Dot

Coffee filters on top of the paper

Paper without coffee filters

      This dot project can be created using many different mediums such as watercolor paint, crayons, and markers.  The book Dot by Peter Reynolds is a great story to begin the class period with before starting the project.  After the story, the students will need a coffee filter and a white sheet of paper to put their coffee filter on as they paint and color it.  Then the students will create their dot using many different designs and colors.  They can color it with markers then use a wet paint brush and blend it in or write a message using their white crayon before painting it.  An extension activity for this project could be creating a solar system for science class.  Each student would be assigned a planet to create and then put all the planets together to make the solar system. 

Coffee filters by themselves

Hidden Safari

          In this art activity, it is not just about drawing patterns and designs.  It is about what message is hidden behind those patterns and designs.  But the only way to see the hidden message is to look through your very own "Superhero Goggles"!  All you have to do is draw your hidden message using cool colors.  Then add all sorts of patterns on top using warm colors.  When you finish adding the patterns use your "Superhero Goggles" to see your hidden message!  This activity can be used for other subjects such as Reading.  After the students finish a book, each of the them could draw their favorite scene and the other students could use their "Superhero Goggles" to see what scene they drew.