1st Grade Klimt Trees

This is one of the last couple projects that I'll be posting that my student teacher came up with. I thought that this particular project was pretty successful all around. 


The kids started out by looking at some examples of the work of Gustav Klimt. They discussed Klimt's work and talked about how he used a lot of pattern in his work. Mrs. Heimlich then focused more directly on Klimt's painting Tree of Life. 

Tree of Life by Gustav Klimt

Students then practiced drawing trees in Klimt's swirly style. To make the "leaves," students dipped bottle caps of various sizes into tempera paint and did some simple printmaking with them. I hadn't ever done any printmaking with 1st grade before, so this was a great introduction to the concept. The last step of the project was making a small bird to go in the tree to match the one in Klimt's painting. If I were to do this project again, I would probably use a lighter color paper so the tree itself would stand out a little more. 


See the lesson plan here!