My all time favorite art lesson! Every year, this lesson is the first lesson I teach to kindergarten artists. We begin this project by learning all of the lines together.

We watch this line video on Youtube to get a basic understanding of the different lines. Then, kindergarten artists follow along with me to learn how to draw each different type of line. We use a worksheet to help us with this task.

If the artists complete this task before class is over, then they continue to practice drawing lines in order to create their own beautiful line drawing. To change things up a little, I've done this part with various materials each year like marker on manilla paper or construction paper crayons on black paper.

This week, we review our different types of lines. I am grateful to have a smartboard in my classroom, so I have students play a matching game on the board but this could be done with printed and laminated cards as well!

Next, I introduce students to painting for the first time. With kindergarten I always assume that my students do not have any prior knowledge. Even if they do have prior knowledge, a reminder of the basics will never hurt! I personally believe the key to kinder is simplicity! I start my painting lesson by explaining the three major parts of the brush: the bristles, handle, and ferrule. I explain that they need to hold the brush by the handle and work hard to try to only get paint on the bristles. Then, I tell kindergartener's that the ferrule has a super important job of holding the brush all together so we treat that part with care by leaving it be so it can do it's job!

Kinder's practice using their brush properly by receiving black tempera paint only. No water, no other colors on this first day. We all have to put a small dot in the center of our paper to help us begin, but after that it's up to each student to pick which type of line to paint around their dot. I'm pretty flexible, so I don't make my students continue to go around the dot as long as they are using clear lines. If their painting starts to get too abstracted, or they are starting to fill in their space with the black I remind them that I am looking to see the different lines they know and that typically puts them back on track.

For the last day of this project kindergarten artists review how to properly use their paint brush. To add to our painting knowledge we learn how to wash the brush and get new colors. Students use tempera cakes and practice swirling their wet bristles on the cakes and keeping the bristles pointed. We remember to use our "tip toe" on our brush like a ballerina dancer and we also make sure to keep our bristles wet and not spikey and thirsty!

I do let students mix colors on their paper, as long as they are not mixing the colors in their palette. I use a clean and dirty sponge system in my classroom, so students learn how to clean their tempera cakes with sponges if they do make a mistake and mix colors by accident. All of these color mixing techniques are usually taught later in the year when we put more focus on the mixing part. If a student does this action on his or her own, I will teach them these tips, but I will not teach the whole group this yet. Again, keeping it simple! Depending on how quick your artists are, or what size paint brush and paper you give them, you may need one additional week for your students to add color to their work. I prefer a smaller brush at this stage to slow students down and also to make sure they can paint around their black lines and not over.