Dragon Extension!

When the first graders finished up this project, I gave them some "How to Draw" dragon sheets for them to use and create a scene from... these were some of my favorites that turned up!

These were the sheets I created from different ones I found online.... I tried to get a good variety of difficulty so they could challenge themselves as their time went on...

Portrait Extension

When 3rd and 4th grade students had finished up their Paper Self-Portraits and still had some time to work... I encouraged them to do a pixel portrait!

Here is a youtube video I showed them for pixel inspiration which most of them didn't need thanks to Minecraft!

This extension was a very big hit! You can customize how big you want the squares on all different websites for graph paper and they are free to use and print!

That is me in the blue dress according to one of my students <3 

Roll-A-Picasso!

After such a long project to complete these beauties I wanted my 4th graders to have a really fun, stress free, extension for those that were done on our last workday of this project... enter Roll-A-Picasso! I did this last year after my 4th and 5th graders finished up this project. And it was a huge hit, entertained for the entire 45mins!

I made these sheets up ahead of time after finding a not so great version online awhile back and borrowed some dice from a classroom teacher....

Just a few minutes to explain and do examples and then they were hard at work creating these slightly creepy but awesome drawings. They had the option to just draw faces or draw and add on to the faces, and then color if they wanted too...they always get to take extensions home day of so I snapped a ton of pictures!

Try not to pee your pants laughing :)

Mondrian Extension

The Mondrian cubes I did with 5th grade was one of those projects that had students working at all different paces so I ended up doing an extension with early finishers. Its just a simple as they look! They could draw anything they wanted and were encouraged to use a ruler to break up their drawing into squares and rectangles and color with primaries. Like most extensions many students took it another direction, but as long as they were engaged and creating with purpose I let it go!

You will see a few pumpkins/ghosts as this extension happened the week before and of Halloween :)

What can I say? They know me.

Mona Lisa!

You may call it busy work, I call it an extension!

Every once in awhile (and usually with older students) I have projects that cause students to work at drastically different paces and I end up with half the class needing one more day and the other being finished. When this happens instead of "free art", I come up with a one day activity that the students can take with them that usually involves simple materials like coloring. I don't asses these projects, nor do I hold on to them for any time. My students also know that if they don't finish the activity in that class they take it with them done or not.

Sounds like busy work right? From an outside perspective it usually does but I try to connect these activities to the project they just finished making it an EXTENSION of that project. I also think the students really enjoy these because they know that they can get silly and really think outside the box and not feel any pressure. Plus they get really excited when I snap a picture of it and tell them it might end up on my blog!

Here is the most recent extension I did with 6th grade after they finished their Keith Haring!

I introduced postage stamp art to them (a few were like "what are stamps?" GASP!) and watched part of this youtube video (about two minutes) of how they are made.

I showed them a few examples of famous art that has appeared on stamps and art stamp series. Then they had a choice of designing a page of stamps or a single stamp that reflected either Keith Haring or if they were famous artist, the stamps that would be designed for them. I think Keith would have loved stamps with his art on them!

Here are a few pictures! P.S. This was right before Halloween ergo the pumpkins!