Father’s Day Gifts: Watercolors and Questionnaire

Approaching our last day of school, I asked my 1st grade friends what they wanted to do after our morning reading/math block – minute to win it games, a science experiment, watercolors, etc. We ended up taking a vote and watercolors won! Throughout the year, we have enjoyed having our own sets of Prang Watercolors and have learned SO much about working with this tough medium.

Our last watercolor colors were for Mother’s Day and my friends requested we make a Father’s Day watercolor, as well. So, on the last day of school (i.e. the reason I have almost zero pictures of us working), we painted giraffes with bow ties….because nothing says “Happy Father’s Day!” like a giraffe wearing a bow tie, right?! Right! #gowithit #theyaresix

 Following our traditional water-color routine (you can read about that here), I modeled a giraffe on the board – shape by shape. We chant the shapes and then, students draw them. Then, students trace over their work in sharpie (I put plastic table clothes on the tables for protection). After students have traced, they go back with an eraser and erase any pencil marks.

When students are finished erasing, they must turn in their sharpie before opening their watercolors. I *know* this seems like a lot of “rules” but using watercolors is a lot of freedom to have and it could get crazy quickly. Thankfully, with set procedures, my friends THRIVE and absolutely love our art time.

Overall, our giraffes turned out great! I do wish it wasn’t the last day of school, so we could have enjoyed more time to study and look at giraffes before illustrating them…but now I know for next year. 🙂 Plus, kid art is ALWAYS the best art, so they look fabulous!

Like Mother’s Day, we also make cards for our Fathers and answered a few questions about them. You can grab this card and questionnaire on DropBox here.

Well, friends – that’s it. Short and sweet. A perfect thank-you for the Dads in my students’ lives. Happy teaching!