ABC Countdown to the Last Day of School: Letter Aa is Artist Day

It’s the first day of our ABC Countdown to the Last Day of School! Each day we’ll have an extra special activity to have fun and make memories together during our last few weeks of school. We’ll also review the letters and sounds each day with the videos below. Scroll to the bottom for the links to all 26 days.

Here’s our calendar so you can follow along!

 

We’re going to make self-portraits that will be used in a special slideshow at the end of the year. Self-portraits are pictures that artists make of themselves. We’ll start by looking in a mirror to notice the colours of our hair, eyes, skin, and lips.

Then we’ll watch this video before we draw our own self-portraits.

If you’re looking for a different art project, here is a great site with 50 ideas for kindergarten art activities.

Here are ten engaging and creative ideas for celebrating Artist Day in Kindergarten:

1. Color Mixing Station: Set up a station with primary colored paints and let children explore mixing them to create new colors. Provide paper and brushes for them to paint their creations.
2. Clay Sculpting: Give each child a small amount of clay or playdough to shape and mold into whatever they imagine. This helps develop fine motor skills and creativity.
3. Nature Collage: Take the kids on a short nature walk to collect leaves, flowers, and small twigs. Back in the classroom, provide glue and paper so they can create collages with their findings.
4. Storytelling Through Art: Read a short, imaginative story to the children and then have them draw or paint a scene from the story. This combines literacy with artistic expression.
5. Self-Portrait Activity: Provide mirrors, paper, and a variety of art supplies (crayons, markers, colored pencils). Ask the kids to draw self-portraits, encouraging them to notice and include details about their appearance.
6. Collaborative Mural: Tape a large piece of paper to the wall and let the children work together to create a mural. They can draw or paint anything they like, and it will be a collective masterpiece.
7. Dress-Up and Role Play: Provide costumes or props that artists might use (berets, paintbrushes, aprons) and let the children role-play as famous artists. They can pretend to paint, sculpt, or draw while you talk about different types of art.
8. Art and Music: Play different types of music and let the children draw or paint how the music makes them feel. Use classical, jazz, pop, and other genres to inspire various artistic responses.
9. Recycled Art Projects: Collect recyclable materials (bottles, caps, boxes) and let the kids create sculptures or other art projects. This teaches creativity and environmental responsibility.
10. Artist Study: Introduce the children to a famous artist like Van Gogh, Picasso, or Monet. Show them some of the artist’s work and then let them create their own art inspired by that style. For example, they could create “Starry Night” inspired paintings.

The themes of these days were chosen by my Kindergarteners during online learning. Here are the links to our 26 days: