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Category Archives: 1st grade

New! Texture Rubbing Practice Sheet

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New! Texture Rubbing Practice Sheet

Easy, simple, fun! Brand new in my shop, a texture rubbing practice sheet.  Use this handy sheet as a practice for making texture rubbings. Kids love using crayons to make texture rubbings, but they don’t always realize that they can use them to color inside a shape. Peel various color crayons. Place a texture plate under the paper. I have used the Melissa & Doug Shade-Tex plates. Hold the crayons on the side and rub over the paper to reveal … Read more… →

Back to School Letter Art for Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st grade

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A child's hand is coloring a large letter "C" with crayons on a piece of paper, creating delightful Letter Art ideal for Pre-K projects.

Hi all!  I hope your school year is off to a great start.  This project is how I began the year with my youngest students.  First, I read them two short books about creativity and making art.  First, we read Think Big.  It’s very short and simple (about two words on each page), but it shows different ways people express themselves.. dancing, sewing, cooking, woodworking, theater, art, etc. I also like to read the book Louise Loves Art! To prepare … Read more… →

Fun Art Process with Stencils and Watercolor Paints

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Colorful dinosaur and moon doodles, with a name and the brand "Nike" in children's handwriting, created using watercolor paints.

This is a very simple, but satisfying process I tried with 1st graders.  All you need is a pencil, some stencils and watercolors. Over the years I have collected all kinds of stencils from garage sales, thrift stores, donations and catalogs.  I have them all in a big box for kids to pick from.  Sharpies are optional and can be used to trace over lines. The first step is to use the stencils to draw shapes, write words and make designs.  This … Read more… →

Cylinder Sculptures for Kids

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Cylinder Sculptures for Kids

I saw this post by the Art Bar Blog which gave me the idea to make these cylinder sculptures with my 1st graders.  We started with toilet paper tubes and paper rectangles rolled into tubes.  The best way to adhere these is to pour out some liquid glue onto a paper plate, then stick the ends of the tubes into the glue. We also used washi tape, colorful straws, pipe cleaners and pom-poms for added interest and texture.

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… →

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