A Patch of Kindergarten Pumpkins
by Shelley Schoby, K-2 Art Specialist
Kindergarten students were introduced to
the artist, Lucy Lewis. Lucy Lewis was a Native American potter who
lived in New Mexico. She painted animals, feather patterns and line
designs on her pots. Students compared the zigzag lines on Lewis’s
pot to the patterning they would use in math. Imaginary pencils and
papers were used to air draw line patterns.
Next, kindergartners enjoyed the story, Corduroy’s Halloween by Don
Freeman. Students compared the oval shape of Lucy Lewis’s pot to
that of a hollowed out pumpkin. Students discovered that both the
pot and a pumpkin have patterning.
Students mixed primary yellow and red together to make secondary orange on the inside of the pumpkin. Then they turned their brush upside down and scratched away lines in the wet paint. This process left behind a light and dark orange pattern. Then students continued to combine primary colors to add secondary green grass and a purple sky to their painting. Finally primary red, yellow and blue paint was combined to make a brown stem on pumpkins.
