Winter "Magic"

I love it when a project turns out better than I expected. My goals for this tree art were:

1) to do a directed drawing with my Ks

2) to try a fun water colouring technique

3) to make some artwork related to our tree unit

I gathered the Ks around to demonstrate. I drew my trees with a sharpie on water colour paper and then showed them how to colour with some plain old regular Crayola felt pens. After that (and I stressed that the colouring part didn't have to be perfect because I was going to do something special!) I said, "Now it's time to add the magic." Some of the girls' faces made a perfect "O" shape because I said there was some magic in this art project. Then I whispered, "It's just water, but don't tell anyone!" I sprayed plain water onto the paper, making sure to cover the whole sheet of paper, and then we left it on our tables to dry overnight. Just make sure you won't need your tables anymore that day because it is best to leave the pictures alone on the desktops, rather than trying to move a sopping wet picture to the drying rack.

When it came time for the kids to colour and spray, one student asked, "Could we please add the magic ourselves?!" I said, "Absolutely, that is the best part!" 

We did a gallery walk after all the pictures were sprayed - the kids kept their hands behind their backs and walked around the room looking at their classmates' artwork. The success rate for this project is 100%, every single picture turned out. I could tell that the kids were really proud of their work. 

Once the pictures were matted on black construction paper, I hung them in the hallway so parents can take a look when they come into the school. 

Let me know if you decide to try this, or a similar project.  I would love to see how yours turn out!