In the Art Room: Kindergarten Reindeer!

This giveaway is now closed. Kindly click on my name at the top for the latest post and giveaway. Thank you!

Alrightie friends, as promised, today begins my lil 10 Days Til Christmas Giveaway madness (and I say "madness" because me attempting to stay on top of blogging each day AND giving y'all stuff is going to be nothing short of a Christmas miracle). As I blabbered about yesterday, each day I'll share with y'all a post (I'm super behind on sharing what's been happening in the art room and some DIY's, so brace yourself for the barrage) AND giving away some giveaways (oooooh, so that's why they call 'em "giveaways"! I always wondered). So, without further ado, here's what's up for grabs today...(no, not a brand new car, silly. I ain't Oprah).

Daw, some super cuteness Christmas fabric, yay! Each piece is about 1/2 of a yard so they would be perfect for small DIY projects (totes adorbs stocking, anyone?) or, if sewing ain't your thang, use it in collage projects (how cute would a Christmas cookie recipe book covered in this fabric be?!). I'm currently using that top fabric for a dress and the middle fabric was used in the creation of this Christmas light-up number. The bottom fabric was thrown into the mix for the fun of it. 

So just how do you go about scoring this goodness? Kindly do the following: 

1. Please follow this here blog. You can do so by clicking on the "Join this site" button on the right of your computer screen. Already a follower? Thank you so much!

2. Leave a comment below about your thoughts on directed drawing projects (which is what this here post is all about. That and giveaways, of course). Or, for my non-art-teacherin friends, what you'd do with this fab fabric!

3. Do leave your email address so I can let you know that you're the Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon along with tomorrow's giveaway item (it's another good one!). International friends, you are welcome to play along! Tomorrow, not only will the new item be up for grabs but I'll have slightly different requirements for y'all. I hope you'll pop back in to see if you won and what I'm giving away!

Until then, let's chat about these here Kindergarten Reindeer, ermkay?

I had my lovely kindergarten kids for the last time before break recently. They had just completed their Winter Collage Landscapes so I was in need of a one-class project that would hold their attention and teach 'em some new skillz with an art supply that is new to them: oil pastels!

To begin, I greeted the kids in the hallway and told them that they'd be going shopping for one clipboard and one sheet of paper, their choice of color. After the kids reported to the floor, they were to place their paper and clipboards in front of them to give me the Super Duper Special Signal that they were ready to learn. At this point, I projected a photo of a giant buck that my husband had caught a photo of on his deer camera. The kids loved seeing the deer and talking about all the parts of his body and face. My hubs loves to hike in the woods near our house and has found a couple of deer antlers there. I allowed the kids to touch the antlers and we talked about texture. I also told them how deer lose their antlers in the spring but grow new ones later. One smartie said, "Oh, like us! We lose our teeth but a new one grows back!"

After that chat, the kids were excited and ready to draw a deer of their own. I told them that'd we be using a lot of round shapes and rounded lines for this drawing. Step by step, I walked them threw the directions you see above. Once the deer was drawn (with the option of making Rudolph or not), the kids were sent back to their seats to do three things: draw snowflakes, add a black line for (optional) Christmas lights, use red and green tempra cakes to add finger printed lights. 

Of course, this guy's name came up a lot (painted my lil ole me a while back). Our word of the week was "nonconformity" (which is a lot for a 5 year old to comprehend). I explained how different Rudolph was and how that made him special. When doing guided drawing, I always emphasis how unique each of our drawings should be. Even though we are following the same steps, we are all different (like Ruddie!) and thus should have reindeer as unique as us. This takes the pressure off the children who are concerned that their drawing doesn't look just like mine or their friends. I always remind them that if I had wanted all their drawings to be alike, I would have simply given them a coloring sheet. And what's the fun in that?!

By the way, this isn't my first time down Reindeer Lane with the kindergarten set. These guys were created a couple years back. You can read all about 'em here. 

I'm curious to know where y'all stand on guided drawing. I'll usually do one (occasionally 2) with kindergarten and first grade during the school year but for the older kids, not so much. One of the reasons I enjoy teaching it is that it helps reinforce that everyone is an artist and everyone is unique. I had one special needs student who was so thrilled with herself that I got permission from her teacher to walk her around after art and share her drawing with anyone she could find. She stopped nearly everyone in the hallway with, "Do you like my drawing? I'm an artist!" It was simply the best.

However, I know there are some that are strongly opposed to directed or guided drawing. Perhaps it's too much instruction. Maybe it's restricting creativity. I know for my TAB friends, this is nails-on-a-chalkboard worthy. I hosted a wee bit of a debate on my blog last winter about this very topic and touched on it again in this post about craftsmanship. 

I wonder, why is this topic so polarizing amongst art teachers? I think, when taught right, directed drawing can simply introduce children to one way of drawing something (in this case, a reindeer) while reminding them that there are many ways to go about it. 

So just how did we end the lesson? With kindergarten, I love to take them on end-of-the-class gallery walks where we look at everyone's work, give e'm a complement and a round of applause. In this case, I borrowed a sleigh bell from my neighbor and we went on a sleigh ride around the room cheering on all of our friends. 

Looking forward to hearing from you, friends. And, good luck!