• Subscribe to Blog via Email

    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 4,626 other subscribers
  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.

Author Archives: Marcia Beckett

About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

Easy Printable Art Sub Plan for Elementary: A Balancing Act

By | | , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Substitute plan poster titled "A Balancing Act" features an illustration of a whimsical stacked tower. This Art Education piece includes goals and steps for using color and shape to create a balanced picture, serving as an ideal Art Sub Plan.

This is a sub plan that is perfect for upper elementary. If you wake up sick one day, it’s a good idea to have prepared sub plans that are easy for any teacher to follow (even if they don’t have an art background). This is a simple, one page art handout with goals, steps and an example. I saw this idea on a Facebook group many years ago and created this handout to share with other teachers. This drawing activity uses … Read more… →

Test Driving Some New Art Materials!

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment
A variety of colorful art materials, including markers, crayons, and pens, arranged on a table, showcasing new art products.

One of my favorite hobbies is discovering and finding new art supplies. Watch as I test out some fun, new (to me) art materials. I’m not sure how new they are, but they were all exciting finds for me. As an Amazon influencer I receive a small commission through links on this blog (at no extra cost to you.) The earnings go to support the upkeep of this website. I am completely honest in my reviews and won’t tell you … Read more… →

Free Art Sub Plan: Primary Color Hands

By | | , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
This Free Art Sub Plan provides a creative worksheet for Grades K-2 featuring the "Primary Color Hands" project. It includes detailed steps and a charming hand-drawn example, showcasing vibrant patterns on traced hands for an engaging art experience.

This is an art project perfect for a kindergarten to 2nd grade substitute lesson plan. When you have to take a sick day, you never know if your sub is going to have an art background or not. This is a simple, one page art handout with goals, steps and an example. In order to print out the full, high resolution handouts, visit my TPT shop for the FREE download! This was a lesson idea a former colleague shared with … Read more… →

Art Sub Plan- Free! Geometric Shaded Animals

By | | , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Instruction sheet for shading an animal drawing. Includes color value scale, goals, steps, and a geometric shaded animal illustration with labeled color areas from white to black. Perfect for art sub plans.

This is an art project perfect for a substitute lesson plan. When you have to take a sick day, you never know if your sub is going to have an art background or not. This is a simple, one page art handout with goals, steps and an example. The second page has a value scale to practice shading on. In order to print out the full, high resolution handouts, visit my TPT shop for the FREE download! This was actually … Read more… →

Eagle Mural with Summer Camp

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment
A vibrant eagle mural showcases a colorful abstract eagle head with overlapping, multicolored shapes set against a black background.

This is a very large canvas we painted during our summer camp! A family donated some big canvases that they decided not to use at home. This canvas is about 5 feet tall! This was available for the kids to work on throughout the week during summer camp when kids wanted to take a break from the other proejcts they were doing. It is now proudly hanging in our stairwell.

Abstract Art Project: Mixed Media Explorations

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Explore the vibrant world of mixed media with this art project worksheet and example. Featuring a list of materials and a colorful abstract design, it invites creativity as pencils, paint palettes, and decorative elements surround the image.

This is a fun art project I like to use to get students exploring different types of materials at the beginning of the year. It’s also a low-pressure way to introduce mixed media and abstract art. Set up the room by placing a wide variety of art materials in a centrally located place in your room. The way this works is that you start by drawing an abstract design on your paper using a variety of shapes and lines to … Read more… →

Vincent: Starry Starry Night book

By | | ,
Leave a comment
Book cover of "Vincent: Starry Starry Night" featuring a child in a garden filled with sunflowers and irises, capturing the essence of Van Gogh.

Hello! I wanted to share with you this sweet new book I received as a review copy. This book is so tender and lovely and has a fantastic social-emotional connection. This book was inspired by the song by Don McLean. Starry, starry night Paint your palette blue and gray Look out on a summer’s day With eyes that know the darkness in my soul. (Don McLean, “Vincent”) The book is called Vincent: Starry Starry Night (Amazon Affiliate links used. I … Read more… →

Art Sub Plan for Elementary Students- Animals in Cars!

By | | , ,
Leave a comment
Illustrated animals in cars shaped like food items provide the perfect creative art assignment for elementary students, including detailed drawing guidelines ideal for an engaging art sub plan.

Hello! I have been working on a series of “print and go” substitute teaching plans for elementary art class. These will be set up with goals and steps clearly written for a sub. You can print off these handouts for the students, gather supplies and have things all set to go in case you have an emergency illness and need to stay home. Some I will be offering for free on my blog and others will be in my shop. … Read more… →

Yearly Elementary Art Curriculum Plan – Scope and Sequence

By | |
Leave a comment
Yearly Elementary Art Curriculum Plan for grades K-5, spanning August to May, detailing monthly art projects and activities by grade level. This comprehensive Scope and Sequence ensures a structured and engaging art education throughout the school year.

Hello! I shared this with newsletter subscribers, but if you haven’t seen it yet, here is a yearlong elementary art lesson guide with lots of my favorite projects sorted by grade level. Each one links to a picture, blog post or lesson plan to help you get an idea of what the lesson is about. I’m posting this to help other people, because I know as a new teacher I felt overwhelmed trying to come up with lessons for every … Read more… →

Making Zines with Kids

By | | , ,
3 Comments
A collection of various hand-made zines with different illustrated covers, perfect for kids, arranged on a white surface.

In a previous post, I showed many examples of zines that I had purchased from a zinefest. I tried it out with a group of 4th/5th graders and I am happy to say it was a success! It was the first time I had made zines with students before and one student told me that this was a project I should keep for next year! Other kids agreed. We started by watching this video about zines from Tate. I showed … Read more… →

What To Do On the First Day of Art Class

By | | , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Colorful watercolor frame with a paintbrush and palette surrounding the text "First Day of Art Class, Projects & Books.

Hello! I am already seeing lots of posts in Facebook groups asking what to do in the first few days of art class. In this post, I will walk you through what I plan to do this year in my classes. This is very similar to what I have done in other years. First, I start all classes with basic introductions and talking about the room and art class. We go over the rules and expectations. I use a video … Read more… →

Best Hacks for Art Teachers and Back to School Bundle

By | | , ,
Leave a comment
Students’ art supplies, paint bottles, and artwork are shown with the text "23 Best Art Room Hacks" at the bottom—perfect tips for art teachers gearing up for back to school.

Are you looking for the best ways to save time, save money and spruce up your room? Of course you are! I teamed up with Glitter Meets Glue and some of my blogger friends to compile a list of 23 Art Room Hacks. Hop on over to Glitter Meets Glue to read this post. Back to School Resource Bundle As you are planning out your next year, be sure to think about how you will start the new school year. … Read more… →

Character Creation Workshop with Tracy Subisak: A Fun and Creative Experience

By | | , , , ,
1 Comment
A child with dark hair and a blue snail face each other with the text "Sorry, Snail" above them.

Our school had an amazing visit from Tracy Subisak, a Taiwanese-American author and illustrator known for her children’s books. She shared her creative process, read “Sorry, Snail,” and demonstrated character creation techniques. Students then created their own characters. I got a signed copy for my collection. Have you hosted an author visit before? Read more… →

Creative Sub Plans: Cut Paper Art Idea

By | | ,
2 Comments
Paper collage of a campsite featuring a blue tent and a campfire, set against green hills and a sky with white clouds.

I found this post in my draft folder. I had written the post and then it was right before Covid hit, so somehow I missed posting it! This is one of my go-to sub plans. Use up the paper in your scrap bin and make a picture just using cut paper shapes. All you need to do to prepare is leave the scrap box available and provide a few examples. You can print these out or make your own! I … Read more… →

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.