Here come the GERMS!

With the kind of winter that we have had so far, it is always a struggle to stay healthy with all the germs floating around looking to give us the next runny nose, cough, and occasional temperature.  That is why it is important for us in school to stay on top of the things we can do to keep ourselves from being sick.
As we all know, the best line of defense is hand washing.  After watching the first graders wash up for lunch after recess, I felt it was my duty to give them a few pointers on how to keep our mitts clean by washing our hands with lots of soap and water.  But how to incorporate that into an art lesson?  How about by studying the organic shapes of germs and then creating our very own.

After looking at some images on the web of germs and bacteria through a high-powered microscope, the students described the shapes by calling them "round-ish" and "spiky-like", I explained to the students the differences between geometric shapes (shapes with angles and straight lines) and organic shapes (shapes found in nature).  The students used a loop of yarn to adjust and fine tune the organic shape they liked most and then traced around the yarn with a pencil onto paper.

The students then used markers to add all kinds of yucky feelers and eyes on them, adding patterns and colors to create a germ worthy of the CDC's attention.  We used glue to draw lines and patterns on top of our artworks so that we could run over them with printing ink to create unique textures and shapes.  After they were all finished, we looked at Joan Miro's Harlequin's Carnival and talked about the creatures created from organic shapes in the piece.
Hopefully, all the kids got a little creeped out by the germs and will spend a little extra time at the sinks before lunch!