Kindergarten Tackles the Still Life

This is a lesson I came up with when I got frustrated about kindergarten painting and not rinsing their brushes.  I've done it for several years, and it's always successful.  The first day I show them how to fold their papers into thirds by demonstrating "shut the door, shut the door" while folding the edge in to the third mark.  For some reason, saying "shut the door, shut the door" helps them to only fold to the third mark INSTEAD of folding it in half.  We then paint them all together, one primary color at a time:

Names are pre-written on the back.

The next time they come to art, they get a paper with a built-in pocket (I just cut a slit near the middle of a 12 x 18 paper, then glue a 6 x 9 piece over that).  I then talk with them about their homes, and have them draw a bowl on their counter (with the slit as the opening for their bowls) or their table.  They use crayon for this:

I really encourage lots of details, and really make them work at it:

The third time they come to art, they get their bowl drawings back and their primary paintings back.  Using crayon, they draw fruit on their painting, cut it out and put it in their bowls:

I took these as they were working, so they don't have much fruit in them yet!

They take them home once they've added fruit, and I tell them it's a game they can play with their families.  We practice saying things like "May I have two red fruits?"  "Mom, would you like a blue fruit or a yellow fruit?"  This way they're practicing math skills and color recognition.  So much fun!