Fun Friday Program – Urban Art

Friday’s program was a lot of fun!  We ended up with 27 students from 1st – 4th grade.  Our theme for the month was “Urban Art.”  Because these kids live only about 20 minutes outside of Philadelphia with its largest public art program in the country, I felt that urban art was something these kids should know something about.  We started out by reading about an artist who also created urban art – Diego Rivera.  The biography, Diego Rivera, His World and Ours by Duncan Tonatiuh is a great read-aloud for this type of audience.  It didn’t get too bogged down in details and had some really interesting facts as well.  Rivera was known for his murals which is what Philadelphia is also known for, so the two worked really well together.  After I shared the Diego Rivera biography, I also showed the kids some sidewalk chalk art by artist Julian Beever from the book, Pavement Chalk Artist: The Three-Dimensional Drawings of Julian Beever, by Julian Beever.  The kids were enthralled with the pictures, they couldn’t believe that it was all made of chalk!

After we shared our stories, I allowed the kids to create their own murals using one-third of a piece of black poster board and oil pastels.  The kids were really into drawing and creating something interesting with sunsets, beaches, sports, video games, and more.  The kids really enjoyed creating their art projects and wanted to talk about them and show them off.

We had a great time with this program and it’s so easy to do in just 45 minutes.  The parents are grateful as well because on these Fridays the kids have a half day of school and parents need to fill up some free time.  Check back next month for our Fun Friday program all about Poetry!