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Category Archives: 1st grade

Free Printable: Faith Ringgold Inspired Quilt Template

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A child's drawing of a family surrounded by a colorful mosaic frame, with a hand resting at the bottom, inspired by Faith Ringgold.

Hi!  I’m here today to share with you a meaningful art project for your younger students.  This would be good as as a “getting to know you” activity.  The following examples were all made by kindergartners near the end of the year, but I would think this lesson would be suitable for kids through grades 2. Many art teachers have taught about the artist Faith Ringgold and had their students create paper quilts.  I have a free printable for you … Read more… →

Train Track Mural Drawings

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Train Track Mural Drawings

If you would like a fun activity for a group of young kids or even your own little train enthusiastic, try this railroad track mural art project!  My students worked in groups of 3 or more.  First, they assembled a train track with wooden tracks.  This took a lot of planning and collaboration.  They needed to work together as a team to get the tracks to fit on their piece of paper.   After the groups were satisfied with their … Read more… →

Art Using Train Tracks

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Wooden train tracks and drawing activities. Blank outline drawing of train tracks colored in vibrant patterns and artful designs.

In my last blog post, I reviewed the book Old Tracks, New Tricks.  It is a super cute and creative book. The book itself is good for up to about 1st or 2nd grade, in my opinion.  The kids at my school saw me drawing this train track picture and some of the 3rd graders wanted to try it.  I’m thinking 1st through 3rd grade might be best for this art project.  I will test it with the Kindergartners and … Read more… →

Review of Old Tracks, New Tricks– Children’s Book about Trains

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A book cover shows wooden train tracks and toy trains with faces, titled "Old Tracks, New Tricks," a delightful children's book by Jessica Petersen.

Get the whole free download here!  I have a fun book to share with you today.  Innovation Press sent me a free copy of Old Tracks, New Tricks to review. I selected to receive this book because it looked cute and I thought my 3 year old son would really like it even if it was too young for my classes.  I think this book would be most appropriate for Pre-K to grade 2. The book is adorable and so creative! … Read more… →

Easy Coffee Filter Snowflakes

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Easy Coffee Filter Snowflakes

My kindergartners recently made these pretty coffee filter snowflakes.  The process is simple.  First, color the coffee filter with Crayola washable markers.  Then spray with water.  The colors will run and blend together.  Let dry. During the next class, fold the circle in half three times.  Cut out shapes as you would a regular snowflake.  Unfold and glue to a black piece of paper. Add designs with metallic paint markers or Crayola Metallic Markers.

Kindergarten Confetti Hearts for Valentine’s Day!

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Kindergarten Confetti Hearts for Valentine’s Day!

Here is a fun and beautiful Valentine’s project!   I call it “Confetti Hearts”  with a side of Matisse.  This idea came to me after seeing these painted hearts on Pinterest. Start by tracing a heart template or free handing it if the kids are older. Then using one of my favorite products, Kwik Stix, add dashes and dabs of the “paint”  all over the heart, like confetti.  You can surely use oil pastels or paints, but Kwik Stix have the … Read more… →

Make Your Own Creature with Fabric and Paper Scraps

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A collage featuring colorful, patterned animal art and a book titled "Zigzag," created using paper scraps. Text reads "Make a Creature Collage.

Little artists love digging into a big box of fabric scraps to find the perfect patterned piece that speaks to them. We have an upcoming Fine Arts Night with the theme of Animals. We are calling it “Wild about the Arts”, which someone suggested in the Facebook art teachers group.  The 1st graders made these fun creature collages.   First we read the book Zigzag by Robert Souci and looked at the illustrations of fabric dolls. The students made creature collages, either … Read more… →

Primary Color Hands for Kindergartners

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Primary Color Hands for Kindergartners

Here is a simple lesson to introduce your students to the primary colors. We started out by reading the book Mouse Paint, which is a fun story to teach about primary colors. My kindergartners, while I love them dearly, were having difficulties lately with classroom procedures. We needed to go back to the basics with simple materials until they understood how and why to clean up. I pulled out this idea that I got about 11 years ago when I first … Read more… →

Abstract Shape Collages and Artist Reggie Laurent

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Abstract painting with colorful, irregular shapes and patterns. Artist Reggie Laurent's influence is evident in the vibrant abstract shape collages.

Reggie Laurent:  Contemporary Artist Reggie Laurent is a self-taught artist living in Georgia.  He creates very intricate abstract shape paintings.  I saw his paintings online and I was immediately drawn to all of the fun patterns and colors. My first graders learned about his abstract pictures. They are filled with lots of different shapes, fitted together like a puzzle.  His artworks are highly detailed and very colorful. Student Shape Collages The students learned about and used organic (freeform) and geometric shapes … Read more… →

ABC Art Sketchbook for Kindergarten and 1st Grade: Plus one FREE DOWNLOAD

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ABC Art Sketchbook for Kindergarten and 1st Grade: Plus one FREE DOWNLOAD

New product alert!  I’ve been working on this fun and very educational printable booklet for Kindergarten and 1st Grade in art class. This printable booklet features the ABCs of art class. This book is perfect for Kindergartners and 1st graders. The booklet has a cover and 24 pages students can work on independently or as a class. This would be perfect for substitute lesson plans, centers or as a warm-up in class. The pages are rich with art concepts, some … Read more… →

Peace Prints with 1st Grade

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Colorful drawing of a peace sign with red hearts inside the segments, surrounded by stars and hearts on a vibrant background, ideal for Peace Prints.

I was trying to sit down to write a blog post yesterday and I was thinking about how when the world seems to be in chaos, writing a blog post about kids’ art seems insignificant in the grand scheme of things.  I had a post about recent doodling projects my students made in the works, but that didn’t seem quite appropriate after the events on Sunday morning.  When something big like the attacks in Orlando, do you go on writing … Read more… →

Peanut Butter and Jellyfishes Book

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Two alphabet books titled "Peanut Butter and Jellyfishes" and "ABC Book" on a white surface.

I want to show you a beautiful book I discovered called Peanut Butter and Jellyfishes: A Very Silly Alphabet Book by Brian P. Clearly. The book was illustrated by Betsy E. Snyder and I think the pictures are fantastic.  The style of the book is reminiscent of Eric Carle’s painted paper collages. Aren’t they beautiful?  On each page of the book are pictures that feature things that start with one letter of the alphabet.  My first grade students created an … Read more… →

What Do Artists Do? Signs about ARTISTS and Artistic Behaviors

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Colorful poster with art supplies at the edges and the text "What Do ARTISTS DO?" in the center, highlighting various artistic behaviors.

I have something to share with you that I’ve been working on for a long time.  Well, a couple of months.  It takes forever for me to accomplish anything lately (I have a clingy toddler who doesn’t like to sleep) so I work in short spurts whenever I get a chance. Many of you probably know of Ian and Melissa from Apex High School.  They have developed a list of Artistic Behaviors for the high school level.  I have been … Read more… →

Stuffed Animal Still Life Drawings with 1st Grade

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1st Grade children drawing stuffed animals with crayons and markers. Text reads "Stuffed Animal Still Lifes.

Do you want to know what will really get first graders excited about drawing still lifes?  Have them bring in their own stuffed animals!  I invited the kids to bring in their favorite stuffed animals to draw.  I also had a garbage bag full of my own stuffed animals from home in case someone forgot to bring in one. I demonstrated how to observe the shapes and positioning of the stuffed animals and then I let the kids get to … Read more… →

Vassily Kandinsky and Abstract Art

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Abstract painting featuring geometric shapes, bright circles, and dynamic lines in various vivid hues.

Vassily Kandinsky was one of the first pioneers of abstract art.   Abstract art is art that does not attempt to show things realistically, but uses lines, shapes, colors and textures to show emotions and meaning.   Kandinsky was from Russia and initially went to law school.  He was always fascinated by color and in his thirties, he decided to go to art school.   Kandinsky thought showing the inner beauty was most important.  He believed that color could express … Read more… →

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