During the first week of school, you want to be teaching routines and expectations for your art class. I always like to ease into the school year with some simple, yet creative projects to get to know my students. I am going to share with you three fun Back-to-School ideas that you can try in your art classroom. 1. Creative Backpack My students used the template created by Hey Art Mama to make these creative backpacks. (I do not receive … Read more…
My students and I recently made two colorful artworks for our school fundraiser. We painted a stool with acrylic paints. I had kids from grades K-3 come up two or three at a time to take turns painting the sections. After the base layer was dry, we used magazine cutout words to decoupage the stool. Black sharpies were also used to outline and accent the edges. Students in grades K-3 helped with this project and I had some older kids … Read more…
One of the presentations I was most looking forward to going to at NAEA ’19 was the author Peter H. Reynolds. Most elementary art teachers are familiar with his books.. they are all so colorful and teach about those concepts we want our students to learn. The Dot The book called The Dot is the one that I think most people have heard of. I have done lots and lots of projects about dots using this book. You can see … Read more…
My students are making kindness bookmarks now when they have free time. These are some positive mindset affirmations and mantras that I wrote or collected. Great for kids! Great for art projects or art journaling! For a high resolution PDF copy, visit my TPT shop for a FREE DOWNLOAD: 100 Positive Mindset Phrases for Kids
I used this simple “Snowflake Starter” to help my 1st and 2nd graders draw their own snowflakes. This is a great way to teach about radial symmetry. If you are going to use watercolor paints or glue thicker materials on to the paper, print the templates onto thicker cardstock. Simply draw shapes or designs on the spokes of the snowflake. If you draw something on one line, make sure to repeat the same shape or design all the way around. … Read more…
This past summer, there were painted Bucky Badger sculptures all over our city. The Badger is the mascot of the University of Wisconsin. I wrote all about it in a previous blog post which you can read here. I shared already the large collaborative Bucky Badger puzzle designs we made. After we made the large group Buckys, each student made their own smaller Bucky design. They had the opportunity to design it however they wanted. Take a look at some … Read more…
We recently had an inservice at our school and they talked about making choice menus to give the students different ways to show understanding. I decided to make a few that could go along with different units I taught. This one would go along with my Ancient Egyptian art lessons. The free digital download is here in my shop. I plan to use this with my students after they have completed our main art project as an extension activity. Feel … Read more…
Here are a couple of Kindness Themed Choice Menus that you can use with your students to pick an art activity that demonstrates kindness. I have this as a free download in my TPT shop. Download here.
We all have our favorite art supplies. What are your MUST-HAVE art supplies for an elementary art classroom? Here are some of my favorites! (Amazon Affiliate links have been used in this post at no extra cost to you.) Kwik Stix. Oh, how I love these paint sticks! They go on smoother than oil pastels, they have such bright, vibrant colors and they are so easy to use with low mess! They come in metallic, regular and neon. On this … Read more…
I wanted to share with you a new book that just came out that I discovered! It is called I am Human and it is written by Susan Verde and illustrated by Peter Reynolds. I LOVE the illustrations of Peter Reynolds. The two of them have collaborated before on books before that I’ve enjoyed in my classroom, including I am Peace and The Museum. Peter is also the author of the very popular art book The Dot, which has inspired … Read more…
This summer, my kids and I had fun hunting for Buckys! Bucky Badger is the mascot of the University of Wisconsin. Bucky on Parade was a community and public art event. 85 painted Bucky sculptures were placed all over the city and surrounding areas. Kids (and adults) followed the maps to find the Buckys. Prizes were awarded as kids checked them off their list. The Buckys were auctioned off to raise money for charity. Here are some pictures of our … Read more…
I’m going back in my archives! I’ve got lots of folders of photos I’ve been meaning to share but haven’t yet. One of these is the Dot Day collaborative circles. Four students complete one section each of the circle, and then they are put together for display. Nic Hahn shared this lovely idea and template. Visit her TPT shop for a free download of the template. International Dot Day is celebrated September 15-ish! More information can be found here. … Read more…
I have a few new products in my shop you may be interested in. First is the Little Doodle Sketchbook. Learn all about Inchies, Twinchies, Thrinchies, Artist Trading Cards and Artist Trading Coins in the Miniature Artwork Package! Need a simple Artist Award? I’ve got one!! Click here to check it out. Big Bundle of Growth Mindset Coloring Pages— fun for early finishers
At the end of the year last year, my students created this colorful and inspiring banner that we are displaying in the hallway now. We loosely marked out the ABCs on a large banner and kids thought of positive words to go along with each letter. Then, we used letter stencils of varying sizes to write the words. These were colored in with patterns and designs. I had this project set up as a choice activity after they were done … Read more…
I was on a mission last year to find some excellent books about KINDNESS for kids. I found NINE books to recommend to you. There were others I came across, but these were my favorites. If you have any good recommendations for books about kindness, please share in the comments! Thank you! (Amazon Affiliate links have been used in this post at no extra cost to you.) I think kids need to be taught kindness. They need to be made … Read more…
