I can’t get over how ADORABLE these weavings are!!!! I LOVE them!!
I absolutely LOVE these fun watermelons!!! Thank you Nichole ( Mini Matisse) for sharing this wonderful lesson! My students loved creating them!
STEP 1: Creating the loom!
Students folded a sheet of 12×18″ red construction paper in half. They turned the folded paper around so the opening was at the top. Then they drew a horizontal line all the way across the top, and wrote their name above that line.
After that, they drew a short vertical line along the line where they wrote their name, starting in the center, then finding the halfway points between the center and to both the right edge and left edge of their paper. Then splitting those areas in half again and drawing 4 more vertical lines like below.
Then they drew straight vertical lines from those marks to the bottom
Then they cut along each of those lines, making sure to stop at the top horizontal line like below
STEP 2: Weaving the pink strips!
Students opened up the red paper, (the loom) horizontally, and wove 1″ x 12″ cut strips of pink paper all the way across creating a tight weave.
1st graders learned how to go over and under each horizontal cut red strip with their pink vertical strips of construction paper and noticed how it created a checkerboard pattern!
The trickiest part of this step was to be sure to reverse the pink strip every other time they wove. If the very first pink strip started on TOP of the red (like pictured above), they had to start weaving the next pink strip underneath the red, then the following pink strip started ON TOP of the red and so on so forth…. all the way across.
Art educator, Nichole Hahn’s Mini Matisse Blog had an awesome and easily explained video my students watched for this lesson. Click HERE to check it out from her blog!
Here they are watching it!
Students could choose from pink strips, magenta strips or a combo of both!
If students finished early, they became my teachers assistant and helped kids that wanted help weaving! It was so sweet and nice to see friends helping one another out!
Once all the pink strips were woven in the red loom, they glued the pink tabs along ALL the edges (both front and back) with a glue stick. This helps make sure the strips woven in won’t fall out or move out of place.
STEP 3: Adding the rind and seeds!
Students drew a GIANT letter U along a piece of 12×18″ green construction paper with pencil. Then cut out and glued to the weaving using a glue stick. Students applied glue heavily to the rind and pressed for 5 seconds to make sure it was stuck on!
Then they cut along the edge of the green rind, cutting off the extra watermelon weaving to create the watermelon shape!
For the final touch, students added watermelon seeds within each pink strip with a black sharpie!
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post!!
More artwork coming up REAaaaaaaL SOOOooooon from 2nd grade (“Springtime Bunny, Bears or Foxes”) , 4th Grade (“Enlarged Flower Drawings”) inspired by artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and 5th Grade (“Grid Drawings”) inspired by artist Chuck Close !! Check back soon!
2 Comments
Thank you so much for the pictures and the explanation.
Hi Suzanne, Thank you.
I know that art teachers can look at these photos and know exactly what to do to create this project, but I like to post step- by-step photos for parents and students looking at my blog. I want to show parents pictures of their children creating their beautiful artwork, and see how they did it. Kids love seeing pictures of themselves making their artwork. Plus, if my students bring home their art and their siblings (younger ones in particular) wants to make it, they can look at my blog with their families and try it out at home.
Basically, I’m hoping my blog is a great resource not only for teachers, but for my students and kids everywhere. : )