Concentric Circles Art Project

 

Concentric Circles

There is no must in art because art is free”

~Wassily Kandinski

The Artist

Wassily Kandinsky was known for his colorful abstract art. Born in Russia and trained as a lawyer, he became a well-known artist in the famous Blue Rider Group. He also taught at the German Bauhaus school of art. Later, he settled in France and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1944.  A well-known work of art is his Concentric Circles.

Concentric Circles Art Project

Concentric Circles is a great project for students to feel successful. Even young students love experimenting with different color combinations.

We love using oil pastels for this project. The artist originally used paint and we have seen successful versions made with pretty much any art materials under the sun. You can pull this project off with crayons and scrap paper if necessary.

There are many YouTube video lessons to choose from to inspire your students. This is one of our favorites. The teacher used black construction paper instead of white and it looks great as well.

 

Materials For Concentric Circles

  • Paper
  • Pastels/Crayons

Procedure

Model folding the paper four times and then unfolding it. The creases become the frames for the concentric circles. Show students how to draw the circles with the oil pastels. The thicker they color in, the more colorful the image becomes.

Have fun creating! If you liked our concentric circles art project, please check out more of our (Almost) No Prep Art Projects.

5 Easy STEAM Project Ideas Kids Will Love

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Science,Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics also known as STEAM has sparked a new way to energize STEM subject.  Here are 5 easy STEAM Project ideas kids will love to get you started on this new teaching adventure.

Create a Playground

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Who hasn’t dreamed of having their very own playground? This STEAM project idea makes every kid’s dream come true. Create your own blueprints and then build a model from materials you have at hand. Can it get any more fun than this?

Build Bridges

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Help! The counting bears are trapped on desk islands. Can your class come to the rescue and build bridges from popsicle sticks, string, and tape? Your class will love planning the bridges, building them, and then writing about the bears’ adventures. The STEAM bridge making challenge is a blast.

Plant a Butterfly Garden

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Monarch butterflies can smell milkweed from miles away. If you plant it they will come! It only takes a few plants and some flowers and you can have your very own monarch butterfly habitat. Your class will love observing the monarch butterfly metamorphosis. Even better, the garden will attract monarchs for years to come.

Build Boats

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A boat building STEAM challenge is a great way to justify some water play on a hot day. We use several plastic tubs and use leftover materials to build flotation devices. You can make it a competition by inviting the kids to see how many counting bears or other materials the devices can carry before sinking.

Build a Fort

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Who doesn’t have amazing memories building forts as a kid? Even better than building a fort is building one with your friends. This project lends itself to the end of the year when plenty of boxes and building materials are available and many regular classroom items have been stored already. Some teachers even ask students to bring blankets, pillows, and flashlights. We have used boxes, chairs, blankets, tables, and butcher paper. Whatever your materials are, this activity is a sure crowd pleaser and who doesn’t want to be the coolest teacher ever?

We would love to hear your STEAM project ideas! What easy STEAM projects do your students love?

 

6 St. Patrick’s Day Lesson Plan Ideas

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Luck is believing you’re lucky.”

~Tennessee Williams

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration

We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by exploring Ireland through art, music, and engineering. Here are some of our favorite activities to make this celebration a meaningful learning experience. We have added links to most of the resources you need, so prep will be a breeze.

Music & Dance

It is fun just to hop around and enjoy Irish music.

If you would like to take this lesson a little deeper, dancing the jig is great exercise and very easy to learn.

Art

This is one of our (Almost) No Prep Art Lessons. You probably have all the materials you need in you classroom. Students draw the shamrock and create the lines with a ruler. You can learn more about this lesson right here.

St Patrick's Day Shamrock

Food

Taste the Rainbow

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We use every opportunity to promote healthy eating. Most kids will at least try a food offered in the classroom. We assemble a fruit rainbow in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. The cut fruit and berries are offered buffet style. The kids help themselves to the different fruits. They later chart their fruit platter in their journals. We have more healthy party snack ideas right here.

Engineering

The day before St. Patrick’s Day out students design and create leprechaun traps in class. This is one of the our favorite activities of the whole year. Many teachers have kids create traps at home. They often look more polished than our crazy classroom creations.

Social Studies

If you or your students are interested in learning more about St. Patrick you can watch some of these videos.

Leaf Rubbing

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Autumn

The morns are meeker than they were,

The nuts are getting brown;

The berry’s cheek is plumper,

The rose is out of town.

 

The maple wears a gayer scarf,

The field a scarlet gown.

Lest I should be old-fashioned,

I’ll put a trinket on.

~Emily Dickinson

Leaf Rubbing

Leaf rubbing is a great activity any time of the year. It definitely is a favorite in the fall when leaves change colors. Simply rub a crayon over a leave placed under a piece of copy paper; like magic, The leave appears in front of your eyes.

Materials:

  • Paper
  • Crayons
  • Leaves

Leaf Hunt

We start this activity by going on a leaf hunt in our yard. The best leaves come from our sycamore trees. They have the distinct maple leave shape and are excellent for rubbing.

It is very helpful to have a collection of leaves already prepared. This way every student will have great leaves, even if they don’t find any on the walk. We even press and laminate really nice leaves in order to use them over and over. Pressed leaves also make for great fall decoration.

This activity is a great extension to exploring Fibonacci numbers in nature. You can read more about using the Fibonacci sequence to deepen number sense right here.

Art & Poetry

The rubbings also lend themselves to visualize your favorite fall poems. One of our favorites is  Autumn by Emily Dickinson. We charted the poem and the class reads it chorally during our Morning Meeting. Students later copy the poem for penmanship practice; a great fall keepsake that is greatly appreciated by our families.

 

Potato Planters

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We are studying tubers and grasses. What better way than to make potato planters?

Ingredients

  • Large potatoes
  • Melon Baller
  • Rye seeds
  • Toothpicks
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Beads
  • Puff balls
  • Googly eyes
  • Potting soil

Procedure

Day 1

Hollow the potatoes with a melon baller the day before. This is best done by a teacher or volunteer. Mix the grass seeds with potting soil and water. The seeds will get a head start on germination.

Day 2

Have the kids decorate the planters with the craft materials. There is no wrong way to make a potato sculpture.

  
  
Keep watering the planters and the creature will grow grass fur and potato plant legs. The longer the sculptures are kept the more interesting they get!

Day 8

Time for a haircut! Simply have the kids cut the grass with scissors. It will make your room smell like a fresh cut lawn.