Drawing with Scissors

Today's kindergarten art project started off with a surprising turn of events! This letter arrived, addressed "To the Kindergarteners."

Drawing with scissors?! I asked the kindergarteners what they thought that meant. We had discussed collage and looked at Matisse's "Beasts of the Sea" the week before, and I was impressed when they both made the connection and remembered the word collage.  

We had also looked at a Van Gogh self-portrait last week. I asked them if they'd want to hang out with him after seeing his self portrait, and excited little hands flew up into the air. It was pretty unanimous that Van Gogh seemed too sad and angry to be any fun on a playdate.  I told them about his sad life and how no one liked his paintings at first because they were too new and different. Several of them said that they did like the painting, especially the swirls. I told them that luckily, people changed their minds and started thinking that it was ok for artists to try new things. One kindergartener made a great personal connection, telling all about how when he first tried swimming, it was scary and he didn't like it, but then he kept trying and now he loves it. 

I then demonstrated how to create a self-portrait collage. I asked them which shapes were good fits for different parts of the face and the body. I showed them how to draw shapes first and then cut, and how to apply a "just right" amount of glue. Here are some of the wonderful results of their "drawings with scissors."

By the way, the kids were very excited to find several markers, as well as all of the Sharpies and crayons, that had "missed the plane" to their vacation.  I explained that they must have overslept!