Teachin Teh Arts to Teh Kindiegarners

[Viking Kitten]

Hey SO artists and teachers and such.

I volunteered to be a guest art teacher for my daughter's kindergarten class. It's part of a program called "Meet the Masters" that Edmond uses so they don't have to pay actual art teachers. THRIFTY!

So I was assigned to develop interactive lessons and art project that revolve around the following artists and artworks.

Edouard Manet: "Boating"
http://www.villagehatshop.com/artman2/uploads/1/art-manet-boating.jpg

Paul Klee: "Red Balloon"
http://siteimages.guggenheim.org/gpc_work_midsize_512.jpg

Francisco Goya: "Portrait of Osorio Manrique de Zuniga"
http://eeweems.com/goya/_imagery/zuniga_350.jpg

Apparently there is a lot of leeway for me in developing the lesson plan, but I don't want to put a bunch of adorable five-year-old children to sleep.

Any suggestions?

(P.S. Pat can suck it in advance for whatever smart*** comment he makes. :P )

[crawfish]

I'm already bored.

[Hamhock]

art = something you have to study to determine if it is someone's painting or a photograph.

crap = the stuff above.

i mean, come on, the boating dude is all blurry and stuff. it looks like one the kindergarteners already interacted with it.

[IB4OU2]

Any suggestions?



Let'em eat the paste during your lecture...

[M]

Damn. When I was in kindergarten, they just gave us pipe cleaners, yarn, construction paper, safety scissors and Elmer's glue and let us go to town.

[crawfish]

Show them art that's more interesting. Like evil clown art.

[KC//CRIMSON]

Just show 'em the "I'm in your base, killin' yer d00dz" thread. They will freak!:cool:

[badger]

The Red Balloon artist is German and died right around the time of WW2. Perhaps you could make an analogy about wanted to get the F outta the line of fire like a floating balloon escaping all troubles and worries about a pending war?

In fact, I think the dude was dismissed from his regular art post by the Nazis and he was exiled to some other country soon-to-be-invaded.

[badger]

I've had to look up a few of these, but I've seen them before.

The boater picture is also pretty open to interpretation that the kiddos should be able to relate to. Basically, it came about during the Industrial Revolution, where everybody started working 16 hours, including children because they needed little hands to repair crazy machinery. No school, no leisure time, just work until you drop dead.

The boater, however, is a symbol of escaping the hustle and bustle of working life. It would be interesting to point out that the woman next to him is dressed a lot more formally, while the dude boater looks like he's just trying to kick it and relax.

Ask the kiddies if they've ever gone boating or fishing and asked them what it's like. You'll likely get responses like "it's relaxing" "it's quiet" and "I brought my Nintendo DS!"

Smack the DS kid and maybe get through to the rest that everybody, including parents and grown-ups, need time off from work.

[badger]

Ok, I'm not familiar with Francisco Goya's work, but he appears to be one of those fortunate artists that actually has a job (unlike the artists in the Edmond schools, apparently???) and often painted for nobility and royalty... my guess is that this kid and his cats is the child of nobility/royalty.

As such, I think it would be easy to tease the rich people here. We have a bratty kid who is teasing his cats with a string, when in fact, the cats seem much more interested in the pet birds, which said rich kid stupidly put out for the cats to eat. Whoops! Or perhaps, the kid likes violence and will one day lead the Spanish Inquisition, which as we know, nobody expects!

Ok, so it's probably a bad idea to go that route, but since their kinderbeans, ask them if any of them own a cat and how they play with the cat - do you use strings like the child here? What do cats like? Yes, they like to watch the birds. We can see this cat here (the one with the wide eyes) is really interested in that bird right now!)

Another interesting point of note is that the kid does not look overly thrilled to be wearing frilly clothing. As noted, this kid is likely the child of nobility/royalty, not only because that's what this artist did a lot of, but also, if you're getting your picture painted, your family's very wealthy!

So, back to the kid. He's ****ed off because he has to stand around and pose for this picture in this expensive get-up. Ask the kids if they've ever had to dress up. Ask what they had to wear, and how comfortable it was to wear said dress-up clothing. Kids will probably mention pointy shoes, belts, etc. that they don't really like to wear, compared with comfy jeans and t-shirt ensembles.

[badger]

I hope I made art fun today :D Really, even the most pointless drawings that look incredibly abstract and like a monkey drew it can be incredibly fascinating, once you know the back story. Let's take one of my recent artwork pieces from the fark board... I shall title this one, "Paradise Lost."
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/5378/l8rlsrrs1.jpg
To a non-football fan, it may just be a "stupid jocks arguing about stupid sports."

To a Sooner (or Husker fan) however, it is a symbolic fall from grace for a former Super Bowl and NFL coach. Not only has he personally fallen, but he has caused others around him to fall also. Triumphing over him is a legend, a dragon slayer of his own era, that the ladies would have thrown flowers at in an earlier time, exclaiming "save me, hero, for I am in extreme peril!" So this knight in shining armor casts a condescending look on the evil dictator, who has ruined the paradise of these humble peasants who sow their humble crops of corn. This dictator has a yellow belly, and will cower in the face of this triumphant hero.

See, didn't I make art fun again? :D:D:D

[badger]

Oh, one more thing...

I think the three have a theme of "escape from the norm." We have a balloon escaping from the chaos (omg, crazy shapes!) below, a boater that wants to relax, and an uncomfortable kid trying to pose for hours for a picture.

[SoonerJack]

1. give every kid a red balloon and see who can actually blow it up and tie it without seeking help. if one of them can, let him/her wear a crown and make th other kids paint him/her.

2. Balloon picture - play Nina's 99 Luft Balloons and show them a bunch of cool 80's stuff like MTV (before it started to suck); explain the cold war, nuclear winter, leg warmers, and red pumps to them (you should excel at the pumps part, right?)

3. after explaining the boring stuff about the boating picture, suggest that each child draw a t-shirt/hat combination for the guy driving the boat. Then show them the Booze Cruise episode of The Office (where Dwight gets to "drive" the boat.)

[yermom]

that crap bored me when i was 12-13, i can't imagine a kindergartner understanding or giving a crap about Cubism or Impressionism, or whatever

you could kinda move chronologically and how they would have influenced each other, moving from more Realism to Impressionism to even more surreal stuff

[JohnnyMack]

You should subcontract this deal out to Picasso and use your newly found free time to go shopping.

[Partial Qualifier]

The school assigned those particular artists/paintings as the subject for interactive lessons?

I'm not a teacher or an artist, but my suggestion would be to totally simplify things... while 6-year-olds can and usually will appreciate fine art to some extent, they won't appreciate the thought process behind the art, what the works meant to the artists, interpretations of the art, etc.

Lots of kids that age get frustrated or bored with drawing because they know what they want to draw, but have no idea how to start the drawing. If you don't want to put them to sleep, I'd spend a short time talking about different possible interpretations & reflections of each piece, maybe ask them to express their interpretations about each piece, then teach them step-by-step how to draw a boat, a balloon and a cat. They'd love that.

That way, you'd appease the schoolboard *and* give the students a useful, fun lesson.

?

[Mjcpr]

Dear Class,

Please paint:

1) A man in a boat
2) A red circle
3) A gay kid with a pet skunk

[OUDoc]

Why aren't you analyzing Howzit's drawings? They seem more appropriate for the age you're dealing with.

[IB4OU2]

Why aren't you analyzing Howzit's drawings? They seem more appropriate for the age you're dealing with.

Yea, KoKo the gorilla liked them.

[Mjcpr]

Yea, KoKo the gorilla liked them.

I doubt 4LIFE has even seen them.

[rufnek05]

Hand turkeys are fun.

[badger]

Ok, REVISED game plan:

1- ESCAPE THE SHAPES balloon game. Form two teams. One team tosses the abstract shapes (aka foam balls) while the other must escape with the assistance of the balloon. Have children run across on the other side of a large room (aka gym) while holding a balloon. If they get hit, they're out, and become "abstract shapes" themselve. Kids must now avoid downed kids and the balls thrown by the other team. Should they make it to the other side of the gym, pass the balloon to the next kid, continue.

2- WILL IT FLOAT? Have kids take their milk cartons from the day and create a milk carton boat. Play cantina music or other relaxing boatin' music in the backgroun during this activity.

3- POSE FOR A PIC: Bring in fancy "dress up game" clothes for the kids and take their pictures with a digital camera. Remind them that they cannot move while posing, or the "painting" will not turn out. Kids will experience both the humility of wearing crazy clothes in front of their classmates, but will also get pictures of them wearing the funny clothes afterward.

That should entertain the brats :D

[frankensooner]

When my oldest was in third grade, I went in one day and gave a talk about the judicial system and the kids thought I was a big hit, especially when I hauled out a big freaking bag of candy at the end. I rawked! lernin is fun.

[C&CDean]

Just give them a big piece of blank paper. Then give them a bunch of paint on a palette. Tell them to just fling a bunch of **** all over the paper. Tell them that when they get older they can make tonzillions of $$ flinging **** on paper and calling it "art." Take them to any art museum and show them the "masterpieces" that look just like their **** flinging. They'll "get it." Kinnygartners are smart like that.

You're welcome.

[Mongo]

fingerpainting with chocolate pudding on construction paper

They can eat the "paint" while doing art

[Ike]

I think you should have a contest to see who can come up with the best lolcat-like captions for each picture. If they haven't seen lolcats, you probably would need to teach them "theory of lolcat" and the difference between "I'm in ur ____" and "I can has a ____" statements.

Tell them that the winner will get their caption put on the innerwebs where the whole wide world can see it, but probably won't bother to look...

[Widescreen]

You could use Mongo, c_p or Howzit masterpieces as examples of quality okie art. There should be plenty of background on each piece.

[Viking Kitten]

Dear Class,

Please paint:

1) A man in a boat
2) A red circle
3) A gay kid with a pet skunk

Were you not told to suck it?:confused:

[GottaHavePride]

For the balloon pic, you totally need to show them a little cartoon called Billy's Balloon (http://www.veoh.com/videos/v310887djATTJBR).

Then pass out balloons and see which kids still want to play with them.

:D

[LilSooner]

Man that's some pretty damn advance stuff for rug rats.

Damn Edmond is fancy and ****.

[proud gonzo]

For the balloon pic, you totally need to show them a little cartoon called Billy's Balloon (http://www.veoh.com/videos/v310887djATTJBR).

Then pass out balloons and see which kids still want to play with them.

:DYES!!!

[Earickson]

I agree, "teaching" that kind of art to kingergartners is going to be too much for them.

Better to just expose them to art and let them draw their own lessons from those paintings.

I think it does a lot more for young kids to just let them be creative and not discourage creativity in any way.

When I was little, I loved to draw, but my parents criticized me for it. I also loved to make up stories, which I was also yelled at for doing, "quit lying" they would say. I really wanted to play guitar badly, but in the words of my father, "No one in our family has EVER been musically gifted." ( I guess he was implying that I shouldn't even try, because it was hopeless, music aint in our genes)

So just let them play creatively with art based toys.