Sunday, October 5, 2025

Art History - Paul Klee

In my 2025-2026 school year plan, I decided that our October artist study would be Paul Klee. (Here's the complete list of all the artists we've learned about so far.) So now let's dive into some resources and my planning notes:


Paul Klee
1879 - 1940


Paul Klee
by Ernst Lloyd Raboff



The Cat and the Bird: A Children's Book Inspired by Paul Klee
by Géraldine Elschner



Du Iz Tak?
by Carson Ellis


also

A-Z of Paul Klee
tate.org.uk

    "Klee... insisted on the hand-made nature of his work, making paint, glue, mounts, even brushes, himself."


Paul Klee for Children by Silke Vry
NOTE: This is really helpful for teacher background information -- and chock-full of activity ideas -- but is far too long to read aloud to children.


Klee 2011 wall calendar

    Camel (in a rhythmic landscape of trees), 1920

    Woodland Berry, 1921

    Omphalo-centric Lecture, 1939

    Feather Plant, 1919

    Glass Façade, 1940

    Woodlouse, 1940

    Project for a Garden, 1922

    Plan for a Garden Architecture, 1920

    Mourning Flowers, 1917

    Uncomposed in Space, 1929

    Growth in an Old Garden, 1919

    On the Edge, 1930


Paul Klee Tree House (PDF)
inspired by The Tree of Houses, 1918


"Oil Pastel Klee Portrait"
inspired by Senecio, 1922


Self Portraits with Pets blog post
inspired by Cat and Bird, 1928

    Art History Kids - The Studio - January 2018
    "Furry Friends"

    week 1
    p.1 - quote
    p.2 - painting
    p.4 - Pet Portrait activity

    week 2
    p.1 - biography

    week 4
    p.3 - Symbolism activity


Taking a Stitch for a Walk
YouTube - k3n clothtales


Draw Like Paul Klee (PDF)
inspired by Arrival of the Bridegroom, 1933


Paul Klee slideshow (excerpt below)

    Broken-window Drawings

    1. Draw any animal or human figures in simple, blocky drawings. No line should be shorter than one half-inch, and no lines should come closer together than a half-inch unless intersecting.

    2. Make a dot anywhere near the center of the page.

    3. With a straight edge, draw radiating glass-crack lines outward from these dots to the edges of the paper, separated about the width of pizza slices.

    4. Run a glue stick over each glass-crack line.

    5. Using oil pastel crayons, color in the drawings, making sure that each segment is a different color than its neighbors. The waxed crack lines should stop the crayon tips from slipping into its neighboring segment.


There are also lessons for Paul Klee in both Using Art to Make Art by Wendy Libby and Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters by MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga:

Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
by MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga
p.62 - "One Line Realistic Drawing"
p.63 - "One Line Abstract Design"
p.63 - "One Line Sculpture"

Using Art to Create Art: Creative Activities Using Masterpieces
by Wendy Libby
p.117 - art movement (Espressionism, Surrealism)
p.118 - "Take a Line for a Walk" activity
p.119 - Twittering Machine, 1922
p.120 - mini biography
p.121 - "Klee's Twittering Machine" activity
p.122 - "Head of a Man" activity
p.123 - Senecio (1922)


The Encyclopedia of Artists


volume 3, pp.62-63

Marianne, 1925
Fish Magic, 1925



week of October 6:

Tue

    read Paul Klee by Ernst Lloyd Raboff

    do Paul Klee Tree House activity (PDF)
    inspired by The Tree of Houses, 1918

    12 x 12 colored cardstock including black, colored pencils


week of October 13:

Tue


Wed


week of October 20:

Tue


Wed

    do "Symbolism" activity from Art History Kids


week of October 27:

Mon


Mon - Bonus Activity

    Because I had only two students on Monday, due to many children in our group being out sick, we had enough time for a BONUS activity!

    I chose to make Chai-Infused Chocolate Pudding and we did "Chocolate Pudding Art" from Paul Klee for Children, pp.18-19.

    I made this recipe because it was already on my menu for the week, but here is a simpler chocolate pudding that is also a favorite:

      Chocolate Pudding

      In medium saucepan combine

      1/2 cup sugar
      1/3 cup baking cocoa
      2 T cornstarch

      Whisk in 2 cups of milk and 1 egg, lightly beaten. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Flavor to taste with 1/4 tsp vanilla extract and/or 1/4 tsp almond extract. Serve warm.


Thu - Halloween

    Broken-window Drawings

    12 x 12 cardstock in neutral background colors, painting board, ruler, pencil, small glue stick, oil pastels, baby wipes


An Extra Idea for Next Time!

As we began the month with the Tree House project, a student remarked that it would be really fun to set up my metal ornament tree and have each child make a little house ornament and hang it on the tree. I love this idea! We didn't have time to do it, but I want to keep a note for the future. The little houses from the Calico Cottages workshop with Paula MacGregor (www.slowstitchschool.com, "Making Zen" Nov 2024) would be perfect.

I also have the "House Bookmark with Tassel" PDF from ‘A Year and a Day’ magazine, 2021. That could be a really useful project for this too.



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