Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Abrakadoodle!

Over the past month Nolan has been attending Abrakadoodle Art Class for 45 minutes, once a week. I figured this was a good way to expose him to some self expression and messy fun...NOT AT MY HOUSE! It was a great class that focused on introducing master artists, developing fine motor & verbal skills, and creating lasting memories! It was still a "Mommy & Me" class, so I went along each week and enjoyed having some 1 on 1 time with my biggest boy!

Nolan and one other girl were the oldest in the class. And he was definitely the most vocal. He talked the whole class through, answered every question, shouted out his ideas (Much to this first grade teacher's dismay, he definitely does not have the whole "raise your hand if you want to talk" thing down!), sang, wanted to play with the toys instead of paint, and shared his excitement with all!

Each week Splat the Puppy greeted us, we sang the Abrakadoodle song, sat on "splats" of paint, learned about an artist, and then got to work! When their project was done we gathered together for "gallery". Each student held their piece up infront of the class and shared what their favorite part was!

This was my favorite part of the class. I loved seeing Nolan so proud of his work and sharing it with the class. He gets this nervous happy smile and puts his chin down and answers Ms. Lynette's questions shyly. So sweet! And Nolan's favorite part was probably getting a "Splat the Puppy" stamp on his hands on the way out the door!

Our class is done now, but we have a lot to show for it! I even framed a few pieces to hang in the basement! Check out what Nolan did!

Doesn't this look just like "Starry Night" by Van Gogh? That was what we were going for. Nolan drew the sun, wind, and buildings with crayon. Then he water color painted over his drawings. A lot of the parents helped their children a lot to create a more accurate or more "beautiful" piece. But I really wanted each week's project to be completely Nolan! And that they are!

This is Nolan's "Oak Tree Doodle". It was the first time he had ever had a scissors in his hand- scary moment! But he did good making a few snips to create the tree trunk. He tore the paper for the leaves and painted the tree as well! Each week we came home with a matted masterpiece!


"Dot, Dot, Dot Seurat"- In these two pieces we worked on a pointillism technique with stencils and paint just like Georges Seurat.

Hard at work.
Using a dobber for his whimsical modern art piece! Love his little smock too!

For the last week of class we got to create art on a canvas! It's definitely modern thats for sure!

And so he's not exactly Monet yet, but to me his work is priceless!

2 comments:

Jill Sloothaak said...

This is SO fun! I love it!!! I've never heard of a class like this, but it sounds like such a fun thing to do together!

Kim said...

FUN! I love all your art work, Nolan! The artist in me is very proud! Looks like you're using your left handy too... daddy will be proud :)

Fun and creative idea Abby! I too wouldn't want to do this at my house either. :)