October 31 to November 2 is the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. My first grade students learned about the celebration a bit in their Spanish class and then in art class, we read a story about the holiday and drew these symmetrical skull pictures. The book we read was Day of the Dead, by Tony Johnston. It’s a nice story with great pictures. My only complaint is that the book is very very small, so the kids have to … Read more…
One of the first projects my first graders made were these “All About Me Crayons”. I had seen and taught this lesson probably 10 years ago and decided to revisit it. I can not remember exactly where I saw this idea, but as many lessons are, we get ideas and see projects all over the place. I try to credit when I can, but some of these I have been doing so long! We started the day by reading … Read more…
Are you looking for a fun and easy printmaking activity with your youngest students? This one is always a hit and allows the students to be creative and expressive. I saw the idea to print with cardboard from Thinking with a Line.
The 1st graders made maps of their hearts! This is a charming project that gives you a window into the lives of your students. First, they drew a large heart and then inside the heart they included things or people that were important in their lives. They used permanent markers to draw and then watercolor paints to color in the heart. I got this idea from the book “Playful Learning” which would be a great book for a classroom teacher. … Read more…
The week after winter break was up in the air. Due to construction, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to use our art room and we didn’t know if we would have easy access to supplies. I planned for most of my classes to complete observational drawings during that week period, since they all could use the same supplies and learning to observe the edges and shapes of objects is great training for the eye. It … Read more…
Another year is rapidly coming to a close, so I thought I would spend some time reviewing my favorite projects and blog posts from this year. Here are my favorite posts, in no particular order! 15. How to Paint Gorgeous Clouds with Watercolor 14. Clay Castles 13. Postage Stamp Art Project 12. Heart Photography Project with 3rd Grade 11. 25 Amazing Books for Teaching About Art 10. Editorial cartoons are a unit I teach every year. We even were … Read more…
The week before winter break, the first graders made colorful coffee filter snowflakes. 1. Color the coffee filters with washable markers. 2. Spray with a water bottle and watch the colors magically spread like tie-dye. Allow to dry overnight. 3. The next day, fold the circle into half and then half again and half again. Cut out little shapes and pieces of the coffee filter. 4. Glue the snowflake on to a colored piece of construction paper. Glue on confetti, … Read more…
I loved these zig zag dolls by Patricia Saunders that were published in School Arts magazine earlier this year. We have a large tub of fabric and felt scraps that I wanted to start using up. After reading the book Zigzag the students dove into the box of fabric and started creating their own dolls and creatures. We just used regular Fiskars kids scissors (set aside especially for cutting fabric) and school glue. The pieces were glued on to white … Read more…
This is a great project to try at the beginning of the year or as your students are reviewing the alphabet and beginning to learn to write words and phrases. I got this idea from the book Dynamic Art Projects for Children. Ours are not exactly as the ones in this book, but very similar. We started by looking at the art of Stuart Davis and reading the phrases, words and numbers that we saw in his artwork. The … Read more…
Happy Halloween! These painted pumpkins were a hit with my first graders. Every year I do some sort of pumpkin project with my students. Whether it is actually painting on little pumpkins or creating an oil pastel drawing, creating art based on the seasons is exciting for the kids. These are similar to Artsy_T’s painted pumpkins. We mixed our paints with a little bit of paper mache (Elmer’s Art Paste) to make them a bit more translucent. (Not a necessary … Read more…
1st graders drew imaginary creatures, people and abstract imagery after looking at the art of Joan Miro. Miro has always been one of my favorite artists! We talked about the difference between abstract and realistic artwork where artists get their ideas oil pastel and watercolor resists As the students drew their creatures and designs, they looked at the Roll-A-Miro sheets for additional lines and shape inspiration. Here are two other really nice Miro art project ideas: The Elementary Art Room … Read more…
Our school is building an addition, so I thought projects related to “building” would be fun. Legos are the perfect building blocks! So, we designed our own mini-figures with this template. I originally saw this idea from The Art Teacher’s Closet. We also stamped with Legos (idea via Lego Stamping from Filth Wizardry). Thanks to wonderful bloggers for these two ideas! My students LOVED them! They were so excited about these proejcts. Place your piece of paper on top of … Read more…
Well, another school year has begun! We’ve had one week of classes and I have been pleased with my student’s behavior, effort and creativity thus far. What I was not pleased with was catching strep throat the first week of school! I had to stay home the second day. 🙁 My daughter got sick the week before, so I that is where I got my illness from. I am mostly back to normal now, so let’s hope the rest of … Read more…
I love these charming birds by the 1st graders! So colorful and a beautiful experience with watercolors. We read the lovely book The Boy Who Drew Birds, which is about the naturalist/artist John James Audubon. It is a great book that tells the story of how he loved to study birds and spent his free time as a child drawing and observing nature. Audubon banded birds to see if the same birds returned each year. It is a great book … Read more…
Rolled up paper tubes, colored stickers, feathers, scrapbook paper… using up whatever was left in the scrap box at the end of the year! These were made by 1st graders.
