Fall Fun! 3-D Pumpkin Life Cycle!

 I cannot believe it is already the first day of fall! I feel like this summer has flown by and now it is time to gear up for all things pumpkin, leaves, and Halloween! I always love fall in the classroom. So many fun things to learn and projects to complete. Plus, it seems that Halloween is a favorite holiday for many kids!

Some of the fall projects I like to incorporate into my classroom are 3-D pumpkin life cycles, October Directed Drawings (Draw and Write), as well as 3-D Spider Reports and 3-D Owl Reports. Some years I pick either spider or owl reports, and some years we do both! I will create separate posts describing the different activities so everything stays organized! 

Check out the fun we have with our fall projects!

Up first is the 3-D Pumpkin Life Cycle. Life Cycle learning is big in primary and the pumpkin is such a fin one to explore. Of course carving a pumpkin is a great way to learn about the parts of a pumpkin. This is a fun activity to do to complete the life cycle unit. These look adorable surrounding the room and students love taking these home at the end of the unit/fall/month. Click here for the project. I love using orange paper for this project as it looks so good and cuts down on the degree of orange coloring the students need to do (it can be daunting). It also makes the inside of the pumpkins look amazing! Check out this affiliate link for the orange paper I like to use. I also have an instagram video to show how to put the pumpkins together if you would like to view the process!

Affiliate Links for Supplies:

Glue Sticks

Paper

Crayons

I hope your students love these 3-D pumpkins as much as mine do! :) Leave any questions in the comments!

Happy Fall Project Creating!

October Draw and Write- Directed Drawings for Halloween!

 Each year I pull out these adorable Halloween Directed Drawings and my students get so excited! They are always a fun addition to our writing center and the students love learning how to draw October related items! Included in the pack are two versions of directed drawing/writing formats for the following: Cat, Bat, Owl, Witch hat, Pumpkin, Jack-O-Lantern, Leaf, Candy Corn, Ghost, and Spider!

These are great for first, second, and third grade students! Even my little first graders love giving the more challenging drawings a try! They try their best to create the drawings and are so proud of their work! You can check out the October Pack here! I also have a pumpkin freebie if you would like to try it out before grabbing the whole pack. :)

September Apple Fun!

September is the month of apples. This is the month where teachers delve in and teach the life cycle of the apple tree, conduct apple investigations, and explore fiction and non-fiction books surrounding the delicious subject. To enhance the apple studies in my classroom I have developed a craft that will help culminate our learning of all things apple. 

While the construction of the apple looks somewhat challenging, when given direct instruction of each step of construction, first graders in my class have risen to the challenge and successfully constructed these adorable fruits! They are great helpers when someone at their table gets stuck on a step and I of course monitor them and help when needed. 

Check out these adorable apples here. Card stock is not necessary, just regular copy paper works great. What is also fun is the ability to copy them on green, red, yellow paper so there is a variety of apples on display in the classroom. They look adorable hanging in the classroom and brighten up the space before all the fun fall projects begin. 

Click here to grab the apple!

Watercolor Pumpkins!

Each year when fall rolls around my class creates many fall themed art projects and activities. One of the favorites is the watercolor pumpkin activity. I have created these a few different ways based on the grade level I teach that particular year.

These adorable pumpkins look like stained glass and I have two methods that are tried and true. The first one is more simple. I model a few different compositions of pumpkins for the kids using watercolor paper and pencil- whole class. The students either recreate one of my compositions or try one of their own. During this part I stress the importance of drawing large images so the glue will not run together. I explain that tracing little images with glue is very tricky and sometimes it ends up blobbing together.

After the students have a pencil outline I have them trace their lines with black glue. You can purchase black glue, but I prefer to make my own by mixing white glue and black tempera paint. I buy little squeeze bottles that are easier for little hands to use and let them go for it!

I let the glue dry overnight and the pumpkins are ready to paint the next day.

The other method is a little more complicated. The drawing of the pumpkin is the same, but then the lines are covered with white glue. Once the glue dries I have the students use sharpie to line the inside and the outside of the glue lines. After the glue is dry, the students paint in the sections of the glue.

These are both great methods for creating a stained glass look and create a wonderful fall display in the classroom. If you have any questions be sure to leave them in the comments section and I will be happy to answer them!

Items used:
Watercolor paper
Small Squeeze Bottles
Watercolors
Glue

3-D Spider Report

3-D Spider Report

Fall is inching closer and closer! Once the cool weather creeps its way in I start to think about fun units to teach. One I always like to present to my kiddos is the study of spiders! To make the learning even more exciting I created these 3-D Spider Reports for the students to create. There are a few different versions included. One contains report pages with lines and a blank report page version. I also included a blank template for those teachers who would prefer to keep this an art project rather than include a report component. Check out the video tutorial below! You can grab the spider template here!

3-D Spider Report

3-D Pumpkin Life Cycle

3-D Pumpkin Life Cycles

I can't believe it is almost September! With the end of summer brings planning for fall in the classroom. I always love teaching the pumpkin life cycle during the fall while celebrating fall holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving!

I created a fun and hands-on way to study the life cycle of a pumpkin with these adorable 3-D models! Check them out at the link! Happy fall planning! Stay tuned for more fall inspired ideas soon!

Fall Pumpkins: Watercolor Art!

Every fall I like to do art projects with my students to celebrate the changing season. I normally create pastel scarecrows with my first graders, but this year I decided to try something new and exciting! We created watercolor pumpkins and the kids had so much fun!

First we read all about pumpkins and learned about the lifecycle of a pumpkin. Then it came time for the art portion of our pumpkin study. I taught my students how to draw a pumpkin on watercolor paper. I showed them a horizontal version and a vertical version. I explained how their pumpkin needed to fill the paper. Some of the students drew leaves and vines.

Then, I created black glue by mixing black tempera with glue. The easiest way I found to do this is to take bottles of glue that were half full and pour the tempera inside the bottle. I gave the bottles a little stir and they were good to go.

After the glue was prepared, I had parent helpers assist with going over the student's pencil lines with the glue. Older students could do this part on their own, but I found that the little ones needed a good deal of help squeezing the bottles and staying on their pencil lines. The glue dried overnight and we were ready to paint the next day.

I instructed the students how to use the watercolors and had them paint the pumpkin first using shades of yellow, orange, and red. When the pumpkins dried we went back to add the background, stem, and leaves.

My students love getting creative and art is a wonderful way to incorporate fine motor skills and knowledge of art basics such as color, line, and form.

I know my students will love to look at their pumpkin watercolor paintings hanging on our front bulletin board through the fall season. Check back soon for Thanksgiving projects and resources!

Happy Teaching!

For more fall activities check out The October Draw and Write Pack here!