This Wassily Kandinsky Art Project is part of my first grade curriculum. It mixes shapes, sounds, and colors in a unique way, perfect for young kids learning to express themselves through abstract art!
Famous Artist Series from Kids Art Projects 101
This approach is awesome because it layers art history connections with guided instruction about the elements of art and principles of design. The scripted PowerPoint format can be easily utilized in a variety of settings. In this video, I share specific tips and considerations to help you implement the unit with ease.
Watch the video, or read the transcript below if you prefer.
~VIDEO TRANSCRIPT~
Hi Everyone,
I’m excited to present the seventh installation in our famous artist series. This one is all about Wassily Kandinsky. This video aims to give you an overview of how I’ve set up this unit so that once you start it with your kiddos, you can hit the ground running. So let’s dive right In!
WASSILY KANDINSKY ART PROJECT SESSION 1
This unit is organized into four distinct sessions, ideally 40 minutes each. If necessary, you can pull some of this and customize it for your setting. The first session is broken up into three parts. The first one is a digital storybook, so let’s take a look at that.
You’re going to start by showing the kids several of his works. I would say “Squares with Concentric Circles” might be his most famous in the young kids’ art world, and you may be familiar with it yourself!
Kandinsky is known for being the first abstract painter, which is pretty impressive to kids. Kandinsky’s artwork feels very accessible to young kids, as they understand the language of basic shapes, so this script is strategically composed to focus kids’ attention on Kandinsky’s ideas about visualizing sound.
Kandinsky was a huge believer in the idea that colors and sound were connected, so he made paintings exploring that concept. Music is universal and relatable to young kids, so you should have a lot of fun with this one! His use of geometric shapes and lines to interpret sound is our inspiration for the studio project in this unit.
After looking at several examples of how he did this, you will explain to the kids that they will soon be creating their own abstract sound pictures. I have included two video links for this section: The first is a link to a video of a guy playing Mozart, and the second is the same guy playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, the first movement.
These two pieces of music are very different in tone, so you want to let kids listen to both sound samples as the tone will be important for their own art. Because of their contrasting tones, these two samples lend themselves to different types of thinking. You’ll want to let kids listen to each one for at least 30 seconds.
Next, you have them put their heads down, close their eyes, and really get the room nice and quiet. Invite them while they listen to see where their daydream goes.
- What kind of colors do they start to think about?
- What kind of shapes, lines, and ideas are they thinking about?
Encourage them to have fun with this!
After you listen to the music sample, give them a chance to share where their mind went, and also share with them about where your own mind goes as a comparison.
Once you establish the connection between sound and visual thinking, you are going to flip it around and let them try to draw as they listen. Present the three included handouts, and let them choose one to use. I recommend you have them listen to something instrumental in nature so that they’re thinking in an abstract way while they draw. This activity will finish Session One!
Early Finishers
If they don’t finish in the time allotted, save their sheets! At any other point, continuing on those can be used as an early finisher option.
WASSILY KANDINSKY ART PROJECT SESSION 2
Session Two is also broken down into two little chunks. One is where you’ll be looking at the individual components, the shapes, and the lines that Kandinsky used in a particular composition. The second is when they’re going to start the studio project! I call it a painting, but it’s really more of a printmaking project.
Take a look at Kandinsky’s composition 8 from 1923. I love it because it includes a little bit of everything! Squares, circles, rectangles, lines, parallel lines, and intersecting lines, be sure to use that vocabulary!
- Shrug your shoulders if you find a circle
- Raise your eyebrows up and down if you find a triangle
This engages them physically in their response and has them giggling but also really identifying shapes and lines. You’re going to lock in on the idea that this will be our language for the day.
We’re also going to use these elements to interpret some sound. Set up a little station ahead of time for each pair or trio of kids. It basically involves putting paint on a tray, setting up a bunch of objects that can be dipped into the paint, and then using them to stamp onto paper as they listen to music.
I use plastic cups, and I cut off the rim of some cups to make semi-circles. I work with large groups and prefer washable items, but if you are working with a small group or only one group you could use paper cups or cardboard pieces.
Just play music and let them stamp away! Once you run out of time, you will put those prints somewhere safe to dry and we’ll move on to our third session.
WASSILY KANDINSKY ART PROJECT SESSION 3
The third session is where you’ll be adding color! You may have noticed in the second session that I only provided black paint for them. That’s because you don’t want them thinking too much about color during that session, just shapes and lines.
Kandinsky had some really specific ideas about color. I include in the slideshow a list of his interpretations of different colors, and how they relate to different sounds. You can go on to YouTube and play simple instrument samples, and then ask them what they think when they hear the noises.
Does a certain color come to mind? Emphasize to them that it’s okay if they disagree with some of the interpretations that Kandinsky had, as it’s all up to their own imagination!
Note: I recommend using oil pastels for this session. The colors are super vibrant compared to the crayons and markers they usually use, which kids love! If you’re on a budget don’t feel bad about using the materials you already have, but I would absolutely recommend avoiding watercolor paint.
I would highly recommend that you put music on during Session Three while they’re adding color. It doesn’t have to be the same exact music samples from Session Two if you think something else will work better for your class! They will work on adding color all the way through the end of Session Three.
WASSILY KANDINSKY ART PROJECT SESSION 4
If you’re familiar with my other units, you’ll know that I usually like to close out the whole project with a session where we review what they’ve learned. Then there is an art show and a simple self-assessment!
Art Show
Let them spread out all their work so that they all take a look at what they came up with and see how each of them interpreted the music. You’d be surprised at how different they all end up looking. This is an important time to emphasize the use of kind words and positive feedback.
This is a good opportunity to review some of those vocabulary words: intersecting lines, parallel lines, squares, and circles. You can even throw in a trapezoid or a rhombus if you want to get fancy!
There are empty slides at the end of the file that you can customize if you want to put in different prompts, but if you have a group of kids who love to talk then you may not need to ask all of these questions at all. They may just spontaneously start talking, which is fantastic for engagement!
Self-Assessment
The last component is a self-assessment. Print out a copy of this for each child if you have the resources to do that, or you can just simply project this file up on the screen in your room. It walks them through very specific components of that studio project:
- Did I use a variety of shapes?
- Did I use a variety of colors?
- Was I actually responding to music?
- Did I use my materials carefully?
It’s an opportunity for them to self-reflect, and you can give space for them to put in some individual comments if you decide to print these out. If any kid finishes early you can let them pick a new handout from Session One to complete.
Additional Activity
One thing that I highly recommend integrating into this unit is Chrome Music Lab’s digital drawing and soundboard. It’s a Kandinsky-inspired setup on the computer where kids get to click and drag to create sound! They can change the colors and can get different sounds, so it’s a great pairing activity if you have tablets or computers for kids to play on.
Note: Sound is a critical part of this extra activity, so you’ll want to have headphones they can use to hear what they’re working on. It’s just a really fun resource to let them play with, and I highly recommend checking it out.
That brings us to the end of this unit! As always, if you complete this unit and are willing or able to take some pictures and share them with the group, we are very eager to see people in action!
I hope you have fun, and I hope you found all of this helpful!
More About the Wassily Kandinsky Art Unit
Introduce children to Kandinsky’s use of line, shape, and color in this series of four elementary art lessons. Use the done-for-you digital storybook to look at his abstract paintings and introduce students to a brief history of Wassily Kandinsky. Then use the digital presentation with step-by-step art project directions to guide young artists as they listen to music and picture sound while creating their own abstract art projects and making a visual representation of music using found object stamps and oil pastels.
Inside the unit, you’ll find a 25-page unit guide full of information and tips for teaching this series of art lessons to students in kindergarten through grade 2.
✨You don’t need a lot of background knowledge of the artist or art curriculum, and you don’t have to do any extra research to teach these art lessons. I’ve included all the details here for you to open and go. Think of how much time you’ll save on planning!
The unit is broken down into four 40-minute sessions.
For each session, there is a guided presentation that has already been prepared for you and can be used via Google Slides or PowerPoint. The presentation also introduces and guides you through completion of a studio elementary art project and follow-up activity.
The 99-page combined PDF and Google Slides full resource includes:
- An original digital storybook designed to expose students to famous artworks and details about Wassily Kandinsky
- Two “Picturing Sound” activities
- Three “Sound Practice” handouts
- A look at Kandinsky’s use of line and shape (emphasizing kinesthetic movement)
- A digital step-by-step studio project guide with clear directions, supply lists, and work sample photos
- A look at Kandinsky’s use of color
- A digital lesson review
- An art show prompt with guided questions
- A printable self-assessment
- Early finisher suggestions
- Blank slide templates
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