dia de los muertos

Last Friday at Scoop, the kids discussed the Day of the Dead - Dia de los Muertos - celebrations that take place in Mexico every year, the night of Nov. 1, in celebration of loved ones and ancestors. They looked at some images of Day of the Dead masks and then worked to create their own drawing of a skull or scene!

Many thanks to my assistant Cathie, and one of the mommas, Zette, who scrounged some materials and pulled off this lesson with the kids while I had a major transportation delay and could not make it in time for class.

mixed media stories - week 3

   This week, the kids' assignment was to illustrate a story or a scene with one image. I asked them to include at least one Person (or Animal, if they preferred), Place, showing some type of setting (are they indoor, outdoor, are there buildings, trees?) and Thing (the thing could be an object, an idea, or a situation).
   We also talked about perspective, how things look when they are far away vs. close up (smaller/bigger), and drawing the things closest to you first, then filling in behind that. I asked them to visualize their composition before they drew it out, challenging them to draw straight away with pen rather than sketching it out with pencil first. Then, the kids began adding color using gouache.
   Most of these are still in progress, and I only got a few of the kids' fabulous work. I love seeing what they come up with and witnessing their process!