Teach Art Elements Form and Space with Hearts

Valentine's Day Elementary Art Lesson Plan

Feb 5, 2009 Renee Carver

Elementary art teachers wondering how to teach art elements can use valentine hearts in an elementary Valentine's day lesson plan to teach art elements form and space.

Art teachers help elementary students build their base of knowledge about the seven elements of art and focus on the similarities and differences between each element by presenting each art element as it is used to depict the same simple subject – the shape of a Valentine heart.

In this lesson, teachers teach the art element form and the art element space. Elementary students then gain experience with using these art elements by creating artworks in several Valentine's Day art activities.

How to Teach Art Element Form with Valentine Hearts

Begin by introducing the concept of form, or how a shape that takes up a flat, two-dimensional area can change into a form that takes up a filled-out, three-dimensional area. Pass around a handful of candy hearts and a few flat paper cutout hearts. Have students compare the two. Then, discuss how the paper hearts have two-dimensional shapes and the candy hearts have three-dimensional forms.

Have students experiment with form in a Valentine's Day art activity by making their own three-dimensional valentine hearts out of flat pieces of cloth. Provide them with two heart shapes cut from fabric or felt. Have them sew the pieces together along the sides, leaving a hole at the tip for stuffing. Ask students to turn the sewn-together pieces inside-out, stuff the hearts with cotton batting, and then sew the hole shut to complete their three-dimensional stuffed fabric hearts.

Next, for a second Valentine's Day art activity, provide students with three small lumps of red or pink modeling clay. Have them sculpt each lump into a different heart shape. For example, one heart might have straight sides, while another might have curvier sides. Or one heart might be tall and thin, while another might be short and squat. Once students are done, invite them to share their three-dimensional clay valentine hearts with the class and discuss the variety of forms a simple heart can take.

How to Teach Art Element Space with Valentine Hearts

Once students understand that the form of an artwork's subject is the area it takes up in three dimensions, discuss space (as it is used in pictures), or how an artist can create the illusion of a flat picture having three dimensions. Explain that although there are many ways to create the illusion of space in a flat artwork, this lesson will focus on two: overlapping items and drawing objects in perspective.

First, display a collection of flat, paper valentine heart cutouts in a variety of colors and sizes. Overlap and glue them down in a few different arrangements to demonstrate how the paper hearts in front now look closer, while the ones in back look farther away. Then, provide students with piles of paper valentine heart cutouts and have them experiment with overlapping and gluing them down to create their own illusions of three-dimensional space. Once students are done, invite them to share their pictures. Discuss the techniques students used and how well each worked at creating the illusion of space.

Next, for a final Valentine's Day art activity, have students arrange in a small pile the clay hearts they sculpted during their exploration of the art element form. Provide them with good-quality paper and a pencil. Have them use shading and perspective to draw a picture of their clay hearts that makes the hearts look as if they have three dimensions.

Understanding how to create different forms is essential to making three-dimensional works of art. Understanding how to create the illusion of space is essential to making sophisticated pictures. Once students have learned about the art elements of form and space, they will be able to analyze other people's artworks better. A practical knowledge of the art elements of form and space will also assist students in creating more developed artworks of their own.

Once art teachers have begun exploring how to teach art elements with Valentine hearts, teachers can continue elementary students' introduction to the seven elements of art with a Valentine's Day elementary art lesson plan that uses hearts to teach art elements line and shape, a Valentine's Day elementary art lesson plan that uses hearts to teach art elements color and value, and a third that uses hearts to teach art element texture.

The copyright of the article Teach Art Elements Form and Space with Hearts in Primary School is owned by Renee Carver. Permission to republish Teach Art Elements Form and Space with Hearts in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Use Candy Hearts to Introduce Art Element Form	Use Stuffed Hearts to Explore Art Element Form	Layer Hearts to Create the Illusion of Space
Layer Hearts to Create the Illusion of Space