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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.

Third Grade Silhouettes

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Silhouette of a rabbit against a white background with black shapes at the top and bottom edges, ideal for third grade art projects.

We looked at the silhouette portraits of the early Americans as well as the paper cuttings of Hans Christian Anderson.  The students drew with white colored pencil on their black paper, and then cut out their designs.  Then, they flipped these over and glued them onto white paper (thus hiding any remaining white pencil lines.)  This book below is a must-see for this project!  We also looked at a book by Dr. Suess which features awesome silhouettes!!  I happened to … Read more… →

Kindergarten Felt Collage

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Colorful felt fabric collage depicting various animals like rabbits, cats, and birds on a green and tan background with a blue stream.

This was a 2 day project.  We decided as a class what our theme would be for the banner.  We chose the jungle.  Next, we brainstormed types of animals in the jungle.  Each kid signed up for one animal to make.  We cut these out of felt.  Next, I hot glued them on to a piece of burlap and green felt.  The kids also raided the fabric scrap box for extra details. 

Faux Stained Glass

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Three colorful mosaic pieces depicting flowers with faux stained glass effects are displayed on a white background.

The 5th/6th graders have been studying Medieval art and we viewed a powerpoint about stained glass windows in cathedrals.  The students use glass stain on pieces of plexiglass to make their own picture.  We first drew the lines on a piece of paper.  Then, we placed the plexiglass on top of the paper.  They painted their black lines first and let them dry.  Then they use the glass paint to color in the areas. 

Op Art — 3rd grade

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Abstract black and white striped pattern with various curved shapes intertwined among the stripes, showcasing an Op Art-inspired design.

First, we looked at the art of Bridget Riley and the Op art movement.  We read a Scholastic Art issue which features this style of art.  If you don’t get these magazines, they are a great investment.  Each year, we subscribe for a class set of this magazine.  Then, I save them each year in an envelope labeled with the issue’s title.  After several years, you will have a collection of lots of subjects to choose from.  Both of these … Read more… →

Paper Pulp Pictures

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Colorful abstract art piece with layered, textured patches in blue, red, pink, green, and yellow on a white background.

This lesson plan is an idea I tried at one of the National Art Education Conferences.  This is such a fun project because it gives you the experience of paper pulp painting, but without the blenders or mess.  One thing I will be sure to remind the kids of next time is to be sure to tear the paper into really small pieces.  The larger pieces fell apart.  We coated these with a modge podge after to secure them completely.  … Read more… →

Graphic Design Magazine Cover

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Magazine cover of "Hamster Monthly" with a graphic design featuring an illustration of a brown hamster and various article titles.

I wanted to introduce graphic design to my 4th graders and I thought a magazine cover would be super fun.  I was able to check out the mobile lab computers for one of my classes, but for the other unit, the cart was already checked out, so those kids are doing something else completely hand drawn.  I showed them a short powerpoint about graphic design elements, quickly showed them my example and set them off to create their own magazine … Read more… →

Dinosaur Silhouettes

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A painting of dinosaur silhouettes shows a spiked dinosaur and a flying counterpart against a bright orange and yellow background.

This is one of my favorite lessons for kindergartners!  First, we identify and classify the colors as warm or cool.  Then, we choose all the warm colors we have (different shades of oranges, yellows, reds).  Then the first day, the paint their whole piece of paper with warm colors.  After they have placed these on the drying rack there is usually about 10-15 left of class, so they sketch some dinosaurs from pictures that I have show them.  The following … Read more… →

Architecture — 2nd grade

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A 2nd grade child's drawing of a multi-story building with colorful windows, a door, and a small cross on top showcases their budding interest in architecture.

Frank Lloyd Wright:  The 2nd graders discussed Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings.  We analyzed how he integrated his buildings with the surrounding nature.  The students worked collaboratively to build intricate buildings out of wooden blocks.  Next, they represented these buildings with a visual drawing and infused them with their own creative elements.

Budgets for Art

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I was reading the teacherartexchange listserve from the Getty museum, which is a very cool list serve, and I felt really sorry for one teacher who only has $100 for a budget that serves 350 students.  She was wondering what other typical budgets were.  Here is the response I sent her, which might help you also to find good deals for your classroom: “Wow, 0 per year is ludicrous.  I spend more than that each year for my own personal … Read more… →

Portrait Drawing Exercise from postcard images

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Sketched postcard images of a man in various styles and patterns, with slight differences in facial hair and clothing details.

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4th/5th Grade Secret Cities– Drawing in 3-d, shading

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Pencil sketch of abstract stacked shapes, including a heart and a "Hotel Delfino" sign with a small dolphin graphic.

Secret Cities The 4/5s learned  how to draw 3-d forms and include shading and shadows.  They stacked these shapes to make a “secret city”.   I got this idea from a book about drawing by Mark Kistler. This artist had a series of television shows that taught kids how to draw 3-d pictures step-by-step.  Here is a video of a “secret city” mural.

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