Snowflake Printmaking

Can Lines Make Snowflakes?

As we headed into winter at Mill Brook School and the snow began to fall, second grade students learned that those small blurry dots of snow, where actually beautiful crystalized figures. After so much looking at color and learning about how to add color to our art, second grade students were excited to start a new unit on line. And with the all the snow we were getting, why not learn about how lines can make those interesting designs we see in snowflakes? First, we looked at many different snowflakes and thought about how we could draw them from faraway and then close up. We practiced using rulers and created these wonderful line drawings. 

 

Then, students learned about Printmaking. We looked at different artists and learned about the printmaking techinque of relief. With these new techniques in mind, students attached 

blocks of foam to their drawings. Then using colored pencils traced over their line drawings. 

            

 


This created a carved design into the styrofoam. Now these blocks are ready for printmaking!

Then so that all students could get a chance to do some printing (and make sure our lines were deep enough) we did practice prints together as a whole class.

Then in the following weeks, students took turns using better ink and paper to create the finished prints you see below. They look amazing!

Exploring Warm and Cool Colors in Fall

Fall Leaves and Cool Skies

During our months of November and December second grade students at Mill Brook, asked themselves the question "Can colors be cool or warm?" Okay, maybe as the teacher, I asked our students this question, but they came up with some very interesting answers. After thinking about which colors would be cool, students used paint and sponge painted cool colored skies with white accents.

Then students thought about what colors might be warm. After learning about the warm colors of red, yellow and orange students created fall leaves using these colors. There were a couple different ways that students could create their leaves. In one method students did leaf rubbings, with leaves brought in from the outside. In another method, students traced the outside shape of fake leaves and colored them. And then some students decided that they just wanted to draw their own leaves.

After creating their leaves and letting their cool skies dry, students then set out to put all these pieces together. First students cut or tore a brown piece of paper to create a tree. This tree was then glued to the painted paper. Students then cut out their leaves and arranged them on the trees to create these beautiful works art!