Back in November, we had an art show at the Fitchburg Public Library. The local library is a great place to display artwork and get your students’ art out in the public. It’s a great advocacy tool and shows community members what you do in art class at the local schools. Other places we have had art shows in the past include the mall, a pizza place, a winery (owned by one of our parents), our school and a performing … Read more…
I have a treat for you today! While I was researching ideas for a maze art project, I came across some really intriguing and fun mazes by an artist name Joe Wos. I am totally in love with the creativity, fun and artistry of these mazes. Joe has made a career out of his illustrated comic mazes, which he calls MazeToons. Joe agreed to be interviewed for my blog. Here is the interview. 1. Tell us about yourself. How did … Read more…
Now is the time to start planning for Valentine’s Day art projects. I am going to share with you a few heart art projects I have taught in my school. First is the Map of My Heart. It is one of my favorites. I found the heart map idea in this book, Playful Learning. Start by drawing a heart in pencil on your paper. Think of all the things that you love or that are important to you. What is … Read more…
Visual textures are implied textures you can see such as cloudy, shiny, and windy and can be drawn as such. The opposite of visual texture is tactile texture which is texture that you can feel. Feathers, yarn, ribbon and tissue paper are used to add real texture in this sculpture project featured in this blog post. There are many ways to teach about texture including metal tooling, clay and sculpture (like you will see here.) This bird in a nest art … Read more…
Today I’m going to share with a fun technique for older kids or your own personal art journaling/painting. I picked up the Christine Adolph watercolor resist pen from Paper Source, but you can find it on Amazon here (affiliate link.) I thought it would be fun to try out. Watercolor resist works by covering the paper and protecting the area underneath. You can paint right on top of the gummy resist lines. When it is all dry, you can peel … Read more…
One day this summer, my daughter came home from camp with a circle design drawn using metallic gel pens. I thought it looked so cool, I wanted to try it with my students in 3rd/4th grade. I usually teach about mandalas and radial balance at this age level. Mandalas have religious and spiritual significance around the world. They have been used for meditation and relaxation. I showed the students mandalas including Tibetan and Navajo sand paintings, ancient Aztec and architecture. … Read more…
Washi tape is so much fun to use! You can pick up decorative tape at office supply stores, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby or other craft stores. I also have bought washi tape online from various places. Amazon has a lot of designs. The concept is simple. Peel off the tape, stick to paper and color in the sections! Here is my description statement we glued on the back: Students made colorful designs with tape as a short exploration in color and … Read more…
While I never think coloring pages should be used in place of more in-depth art projects in art class, I know that you might work with kids in all different types of settings… whether it be an after school daycare, a church group, your own kids, indoor recess or a scout group. Sometimes you just want a fun, calming, meditative option for kids to enjoy. Unleash the therapeutic benefits of coloring for mindfulness! Coloring helps people of all ages to … Read more…
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This project is relatively simple and takes learning about lines into the third dimension. I posted about this project back in 2013 and it was one of my most popular blog posts. I usually do a line painting project with the kindergartners. This is a great way to learn about types of lines, practice painting with a paintbrush and develop all those great fine motor skills you want the little ones to learn such as gluing and coloring. 1. The … Read more…
The holidays are quickly approaching! While you are thinking about the kids in your life, consider picking up some creative gifts. Please don’t buy those cheap art supply kits with a lot of different cheap crayons, markers and colored pencils. Spending a little more money will allow the child to experience quality art supplies and they will last longer. Here are some of my favorites. 1. Watercolor Paints- Splurge on a better quality set than Rose Art. The child will … Read more…
Recently, I reviewed the book How to Survive as a Firefly and showed you a firefly art project to go along with the book. I also received a free copy of How to Survive as a Shark from Innovation Press. This book is illustrated in a similar style and is very cute and engaging. There is a lot of great scientific information about sharks in this book. From the publisher’s description: How to Survive as a Shark provides a unique take on fish … Read more…
I was given the book How to Survive as a Firefly from Innovation Press to share with you on my blog. This is a pretty cool book, with nice illustrations and good scientific information throughout the book. I wrote a FREE art project tutorial with drawing guides, available at my TPT shop to accompany this book. The directions are also here in this blog post, but to get the drawing guides you’ll have visit my TPT shop. Here is a … Read more…
I am in love with this new children’s book about Yayoi Kusama. The illustrations are gorgeous. I love Yayoi’s style and her artwork. Known for her polka dot installations, polka dot pumpkins and mirrored rooms, this artist is sure to captivate your students. From the inside cover: “Growing up in Japan, Yayoi Kusama dreamed of becoming an artist. In the fields of her family’s nurseries she drew flowers and plants and stones, imagining the world around her as streams and … Read more…
This was a fun introduction to printmaking. I did this project with Kindergartners. I got the idea from this image on Pinterest. I read them The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons. I cut apples in half and the students dipped them into orange paint and stamped them on their paper. The next art class, I provided them with printouts of images I found online of jack-o-lanterns and the students used markers to draw faces and stems on the pumpkins. … Read more…
