Happy Autumn Everyone!

In honor of my favorite time of the year, I thought I might post a few autumn art projects and songs that I've taught in the past. 

During the early cold months, one thematic unit I would teach was about owls and bats. To introduce this theme, I would read a story called Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. I was drawn to this particular book because of its beautiful illustrations and the peaceful song that accompanies it. This song/movement activity was a huge hit with my students and their families. Here is a link with the lyrics and you can easily get to the music by following the website.  http://jackpearson.org/recordings/all-purple-tree-trunks/owl-moon/ 

To enrich this thematic unit, one of the art projects our class made was owl puppets. These turned out super cute-I kept them up all year! 

When I did this activity with preschoolers, most of the materials were cut out and ready for the children to use but you can easily make this more challenging or developmentally appropriate for more advanced students by asking them to cut their materials out for themselves. The supplies you'll need to create this include: small lunch bags, cut up fabric (or scrap pieces of wallpaper, feathers, stickers, etc.), orange, yellow and brown construction paper, large oats, smocks, glue, glue containers and paintbrushes.

If you're looking for a quick and easy art project for Halloween, here is one that can easily be put together in a short amount of time.  All you need is cut up paper towels, construction paper and glue sticks.  Happy Halloween everyone!