Looking for some ideas for art with pumpkins?

This is one of those pumpkin art activities that you’ll come back to every year! This lesson embraces the artistic style of pop art and makes a great time of fun and learning for students.

As with most of the activities I do with my students, I like to use a holistic approach that incorporates much more than art. In this pumpkin project, your students will learn about pop art artists, read a story, and use imagery common during the fall season - a pumpkin!

What is pop art?

In a nutshell, pop art is an art style based on bold, yet simple images of everyday items. These images are then painted in bright colors. This particular movement came about to blur the boundaries between “high art” and “low culture,” and to raise awareness that art doesn’t have to follow one particular style.

Pop art has become an influential movement because it has been able to connect fine art in a way that is relatable to people. Through common imagery, such as product labels, comic strips, or photos of celebrities, artists combine bold colors and irony to create incredible pieces.

This is what makes this style perfect for elementary art lessons! This is one of my best ideas for pop art.

How to Teach Pop Art to Kids

For starters, introduce students to what pop art is. They need to understand the style before they can generate ideas for pop art. Use a basic definition for easy understanding followed by visual cards to drive the point home. You can tell them pop art is a style of art that is based on simplifying everyday objects. You can also give a little history of how and where pop art came from. It’s also a great idea to teach them about a few artists who are famous for using pop art. A few to consider are:

• Roy Litchenstein

• Richard Hamilton

• Alex Katz

• Yayoi Kusama

• Takashi Murakami

Once you’ve laid the foundation of what pop art is, you’re ready to lead the children in an activity to create their own pop art. For your activity you can pick something relevant to the season like pumpkins, or you can choose something totally different. You can also let the students decide.

Pop Art Collaborative Pumpkin Art Project

For the pumpkin art project, you’ll need the following supplies:

• Large pumpkin cutouts (just draw on butcher paper)

• Paint (I recommend tempera vs acrylic for this one.)

• Classroom objects (pencil erasers, glue containers, rippled border, paper towels, cap erasers, plate edges, plastic cups, and dice)

Before beginning the activity, I read a story called It’s Pumpkin Time, then put students in pairs to discuss the main idea and key details. They then transferred some of their brainstormed details onto torn paper. 

Once we finished doing that, they were given pumpkin cutouts to paint in groups. When they were divided and painted, the students then used the classroom objects to create different sections of designs and pop art. After the designs were painted and pressed, students stamped construction paper, and then used the tear art process to glue them to their details. 

When they finished with their pumpkins, they were sealed with a glaze to dry.

I really enjoy using seasonal art projects, and I like to keep easy-to-prep art projects around for sub plans or for early finishers. This dice roll game and pumpkin art project is perfect to use as a prompt for this lesson. It includes a hand-drawn game sheet, which students will use to build their pumpkin. It also includes a comprehension passage and finished example. If you need a simple and easy to use pumpkin art idea, this is the one!

Final Thoughts

This engaging pop art pumpkin project is a fun and meaningful way to introduce your students to pop art while celebrating the fall season. Not only does it offer a creative outlet, but it also encourages collaboration, critical thinking, and artistic exploration.

Whether you’re looking for a quick, easy-to-prep activity or a seasonal art project to reinforce key concepts, this lesson will quickly become a classroom favorite.

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