Pumpkins With Personality

This might be one of my all-time favorite lessons because it packs in tons of learning while allowing kids to be creative and have fun.  Every student loves to mix paint.  The most excited students are my 1st graders who may not have ever mixed colors before.  Students were given primary colored tempera paint (red, yellow, and blue) and then made secondary colors from them.  I led them through to the mixing process, reiterating the important rule:  always add the darker color to the lighter color.  They mixed the paint right on their papers, not on the palette, and were careful to clean their brushes between colors.

The second day, students drew and cut out pieces for a pumpkin.  We talked a lot about using glue bottles because most classroom teachers use glue sticks to avoid messes, so some students have very little experience with glue bottles.  The face is the best part because students get to decide on the kind of personality thier pumpkin has!