Meagan Van Ahn Art Education

Mexican Papier Mache Mask Wearable Mexican papier mache masks, inspired by the work of Mexican visual artist Alberto Villalobos (please visit villalobosbrothers.com). We discussed the tradition of mask making, why people wear masks, and techniques for making them. We did this lesson in time for Halloween and some of the children even used their masks for their costumes and got lots of compliments and extra candy! I developed this lesson for ages 10-13 at Hudson River Arts Workshop in NYC.	Self-Portraits & Group Mural Our class mural during our unit about Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. Inspired by the traditional song "Cholos and Cholitas", the children created self-portraits of themselves dressed in traditional clothing found in the Andes region of South America. I developed this lesson for children ages 4-10 at "Spanish Through Culture" after-school program - a partnership between Central Park East 1 and 2 Elementary Schools and The Latin American Workshop in NYC.	"Art Stations" I was inspired by the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy to create this art lesson. During just one class period, children are given not adult direction and access to 5 different art mediums. In this case, children were given a piece of blank cardstock and watercolors, markers, oil pastels, stamps and collage paper.
Mexican Masks While studying Mexico, children created their own mask designs inspired by New York based Mexican Artist Alberto Villalobos' collection of paper mache masks. Materials used include permanent markers, crayon, oil pastels, and tempra paint.	Patterned Placemats To celebrate Thanksgiving, we created our very own placemats for dinner this Thursday. We first painted colored construction paper using our patterned roller brushes. But what the kids really loved was the challenge of weaving strips of paper - "under! over! under! over!". I developed this lesson for ages 3 and 4 at Kids in Bloom, a pre-school alternative at Elliott's Class in New York City.	"El Caminito"& 2 Point Perspective Inspired by the colorful architecture of "El Caminito" in Buenos Aires during our unit on Argentina. In this lesson, children learned about drawing with two-point perspective. I developed this lesson for children ages 4-10 for "Spanish Through Culture" after-school program, a partnership between CPE 1 and 2 Elementary Schools and The Latin American Workshop in NYC.
Owl Puppets Using oil pastels to draw straight and diagonal lines, we then practiced our scissors skills to cut out feather shapes. We then collaged them on to brown paper lunch bags to create owl puppets, which the kids LOVED playing with their own art creations! I developed this lesson for children ages 3 and 4 at Kids in Bloom, a pre-school alternative program at Elliott's Classes in NYC.	"El Burrito Sabanero" Inspired by the traditional Christmas song "El Burrito Sabanero" (The Desert Donkey) and the beautiful illustrations of Eric Carle, children created their own "burritos" to wear. Materials used include painted paper, permanent markers and a wide variety of yarn and ribbons.	India & The Taj Majal Children "traveled" to the Taj Majal in India and created works inspired by New York based Indian artist Jayanthi Moorthy's "Offerings". Please take the opportunity to view Jayanthi's beautiful and inspiring works at jaymoorthy.com Materials used include tissue paper, crayons, printed paper silk flowers, and jeweled embellishments.
Monster Mask Inspired by Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are", children created their own monster masks just in time for Halloween. Materials used include feathers, felt, pom pons, tempra paint, ribbons, yarn, googly eyes, and glitter.	Mexican Skulls & Cut Paper Inspired by the Mexican celebration of "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead), children created their own "calaveras de azúcar" (sugar skulls) and "papel picado" (cut paper). Materials used include oil pastels, construction paper, and tissue paper.	"My Taxi Ride" After reading "My Taxi Ride" by Paul DuBois Jacobs and Jennifer Swender we were inspired by the colorful collaged illustrations of Selina Alko. We created our own NYC taxis using construction paper, newspaper, yellow paint and glue. I developed this lesson for children ages 3 and 4 at Kids in Bloom, a pre-school alternative program at Elliott's Classes in NYC.
El Bicho Bolita/The Roly Poly Bug We discussed what makes a pattern and children learned to fold paper accordion style to create a three-dimensional ropy-poly bug. The bug was then used during their performance of the traditional Chilean cueca "El Bicho Bolita". I developed this lesson for children ages 4-10 for "Spanish Through Culture" after-school program, a partnership between CPE 1 and 2 Elementary Schools and The Latin American Workshop in NYC.	The (Thanks)Giving Tree In celebration of Thanksgiving, we read the book 'The Giving Tree', and talked about the importance of giving but also showing appreciation and gratitude. We paired this with an art project, where we took brown paper bags and traced the children's hands and cut the outline into branches, and pasted leaves in the shape of hearts. I developed this lesson for children ages 2-4 at Kids in Bloom, a pre-school alternative program in New York City.	"Mister Seahorse" Artwork inspired by Eric Carle's "Mister Seahorse". Materials used include Colorations liquid watercolors, small detail brushes and pipets (great for fine motor skills!). I developed this lesson for ages 2-4 at Kids in Bloom, a pre-school alternative program at Elliott's Classes in NYC.
"Cat in the Hat" Inspired by Dr. Seuss' "Cat in the Hat", children created their own imaginary animals and added their own crazy hats. Materials used include permanent marker, tempra paint, and felt.	"The Mitten" Inspired by Jan Brett's "The Mitten", children traced their hands to create their own mittens. Materials used include felt, pom pons, ribbons, yarn and then mounted on to their own paintings in which they used white crayons and vibrant watercolors.	"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" After reading Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", we stamped green circles and painted red circles. We then laced them together with yarn and wrote the days of the week, which we learned about in the book.
"El Pájaro Chogui" Children created a mobile inspired by traditional Paraguayan folk song "El Pájaro Chogui" (The Chogui Bird) and the weather of South America's Andes Mountains. Materials used include permanent markers, oil pastels, pencils, crayons, and string to assemble the mobile.	"Chicka Chicka, Boom Boom" Inspired by "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Lois Elhert, Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. Materials used include Colorations liquid water colors and letter stamps. This was a great activity to practice letter identification and letter sounds. Each child had to give me a word that started with the letter he/she chose, which I wrote for them on each letter. I developed this lesson for ages 2-4 at Kids in Bloom.	Mariachi Skeletons Inspired by the Mexican celebration of "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) and Mariachi music, children created their own Mariachi skeletons. Materials used include oil pastels and construction paper.
"El Diablito Andino" Inspired by "El Carnival del Norte" (The Carnival of the North) in the northern Argentinean province of Jujuy, children created their own "Diablito Andino" (Little Andean Devil). Materials used include crayons, markers, oil pastels, glitter, feathers, ribbons, yarn and more.	Hot Air Balloons Hot air balloons inspired by Dr. Seuss' "Oh The Places You'll Go" - the perfect last day of school or graduation book! I developed this lesson for children ages 2-4 at Kids in Bloom, a pre-school alternative program at Elliott's Classes in NYC.

I've been so grateful to work with so many amazing children. Most of my experience has been with children ages 2 through 10 in visual and language arts at programs various locations throughout New York City including:

New York Children's Museum of the Arts' Mexican American Festsival
New York University's Hispanic Hertiage Month Celebration
Hudson River Arts Workshop
La Casa Azul Bookstore
"Spanish through Culture" after-school program at Central Park East 1 and Central Park East 2 Elementary Schools
Kids in Bloom Pre-School Alternative at Elliott's Classes
El Taller Latino Americano
The Little Masters

The photos above just a few examples of the art curriculum and lesson plans I've developed and the results of my student's hardwork and creativity. Please click on the photo for a closer look and feel free to e-mail me for more information.

Meagan D. Van Ahn

VISUAL ARTIST & ART EDUCATOR

Mexican Papier Mache Mask

Self-Portraits & Group Mural

"Art Stations"

Mexican Masks

While studying Mexico, children created their own mask designs inspired by New York based Mexican Artist Alberto Villalobos' collection of paper mache masks. Materials used include permanent markers, crayon, oil pastels, and tempra paint.

Patterned Placemats

"El Caminito"& 2 Point Perspective

Owl Puppets

"El Burrito Sabanero"

Inspired by the traditional Christmas song "El Burrito Sabanero" (The Desert Donkey) and the beautiful illustrations of Eric Carle, children created their own "burritos" to wear. Materials used include painted paper, permanent markers and a wide variety of yarn and ribbons.

India & The Taj Majal

Monster Mask

Inspired by Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are", children created their own monster masks just in time for Halloween. Materials used include feathers, felt, pom pons, tempra paint, ribbons, yarn, googly eyes, and glitter.

Mexican Skulls & Cut Paper

Inspired by the Mexican celebration of "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead), children created their own "calaveras de azúcar" (sugar skulls) and "papel picado" (cut paper). Materials used include oil pastels, construction paper, and tissue paper.

"My Taxi Ride"

El Bicho Bolita/The Roly Poly Bug

The (Thanks)Giving Tree

"Mister Seahorse"

Artwork inspired by Eric Carle's "Mister Seahorse". Materials used include Colorations liquid watercolors, small detail brushes and pipets (great for fine motor skills!). I developed this lesson for ages 2-4 at Kids in Bloom, a pre-school alternative program at Elliott's Classes in NYC.

"Cat in the Hat"

Inspired by Dr. Seuss' "Cat in the Hat", children created their own imaginary animals and added their own crazy hats. Materials used include permanent marker, tempra paint, and felt.

"The Mitten"

Inspired by Jan Brett's "The Mitten", children traced their hands to create their own mittens. Materials used include felt, pom pons, ribbons, yarn and then mounted on to their own paintings in which they used white crayons and vibrant watercolors.

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

After reading Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", we stamped green circles and painted red circles. We then laced them together with yarn and wrote the days of the week, which we learned about in the book.

"El Pájaro Chogui"

Children created a mobile inspired by traditional Paraguayan folk song "El Pájaro Chogui" (The Chogui Bird) and the weather of South America's Andes Mountains. Materials used include permanent markers, oil pastels, pencils, crayons, and string to assemble the mobile.

"Chicka Chicka, Boom Boom"

Mariachi Skeletons

Inspired by the Mexican celebration of "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) and Mariachi music, children created their own Mariachi skeletons. Materials used include oil pastels and construction paper.

"El Diablito Andino"

Inspired by "El Carnival del Norte" (The Carnival of the North) in the northern Argentinean province of Jujuy, children created their own "Diablito Andino" (Little Andean Devil). Materials used include crayons, markers, oil pastels, glitter, feathers, ribbons, yarn and more.

Hot Air Balloons

Hot air balloons inspired by Dr. Seuss' "Oh The Places You'll Go" - the perfect last day of school or graduation book! I developed this lesson for children ages 2-4 at Kids in Bloom, a pre-school alternative program at Elliott's Classes in NYC.

mva