Rainy Day Art

For those of you who don’t live in Northern California, it has been raining A LOT. I know. I know. We’re in a terrible drought…blah, blah, blah. Of course rain is always good, but like I’ve mentioned before, rain paralyzes me. It’s my kryptonite. I’ve mentally prepared myself for this week at school as it is forecasted to rain every day. Agh!

Yesterday, my students and I had a rough day. They had no morning or afternoon recess so, needless to say, they were quite restless by the time the San Francisco Symphony came to perform at our school. To sum it up, we will be practicing “what it means to be a good audience member” for the rest of the school year.

I’ve decided that since the rain doesn’t look like it’s going to let up, Room Six will be doing lots and lots of art projects for the rest of March. Art does not get a lot of attention in our room since Math and Literacy are always at the forefront. I used to love art time when I was in the first grade and my students and I definitely need an outlet.

The first project I did with my students was taken directly from a great blog called Blissfully Domestic. Since Emi is too little to do this at home, I let my students at school try it out. They loved it! I used blue painter’s tape to create the letters for their names. Although I didn’t take any pictures, my student's artwork truly looked like the below photos.


Tomorrow we are going to try (“try” being the key word) coloring circles during our rainy day recess. I’m hoping our final product will look as nice as the example. This is a good activity for my kids as we are learning about shapes. The project will also promote coloring in the lines for some of my children who are challenged in the neat department. What does worry me are my students who are not, shall we say, "team players". Will they be able to share their space and work on a collective piece? I’m not exactly holding my breath, but I've heard miracles do happen. Regardless, it should be make for an interesting Wednesday activity.

Finally, a great resource I’ve come across is Een*sies. The site, which was started by two teachers, has a lot of wonderful ideas and savvy tips to try with your kids at home. I especially love their love letters post.

We do a morning message in our class everyday, but I've never thought to bring this activity home. What a great way to start your morning with your little one.

Enjoy the activities and if any of you are currently doing a rain dance somewhere, please, please, stop.

-Kacey