mood painting

I introduced my Kindergarten and First Graders to the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky this week, as well as his series of Compostions. In a round-about way, this was thier first taste of abstract art.
"What is THAT?"
"I wouldn't pay a penny for THAT!"
"He's FAMOUS?"
"I could do better than THAT!"
(gotta love that brutal honesty of a Kindergartner, right?!)
The week prior I cranked up the rock music. We tore tissue paper while we rocked out. We used glue water to affix our tissue papers onto our white paper. We watched as the pieces overlapped and colors ran together. We felt better working out our frustration!!!

This week I cranked up Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata in C". I gave them black paint. I let them have 5 minutes to show me (without pictures) what they felt like when they listened to this music. While the painting varied, for the most part, paint strokes were long, shapes were organic, and the mood was somber.

In the end, they were proud of their work and the two different moods they felt while making them. I wish I had a gallery to hang all 250 pieces...they're awesome!