Art Class

Today in Art class, the children had the opportunity to make a connection with another artist we had read about the previous day. We read the book Van Gogh and the Sunflowers and the children were very moved by the sensitive story that Laurence Anholt retold of of Van Gogh' life.

Interest in the Sunflower painting that Van Gogh is famous for was a natural spot for us to begin our work.

The children used large finger paint paper to create their own sunflowers. Sam first put yellow paint on their papers and invited the children to feel the paint and think about the thoughts that Van Gogh might have had as he painted. She then squirted a dot of red paint on top of the yellow in the center of the paper. Once again, invited the children to spread the paint and try to create their image of a sunflower by blending the paints together. Sam added a squirt of green paint on the four corners of the paper and asked the children to incorporate the green as if they were trying to represent the vines of the flower.

Lastly, Sam gave the children brown paint and invited the children to dip their fingertips into the paint and then print them on their paintings reflecting the images of sunflower seeds.