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Category Archives: books

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… →

A World of Your Own: Creativity Drawings

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Children's book "A World of Your Own" features two creative drawings.

I have a fun creativity drawing project and excellent children’s book to share with you today. I came across this book called A World of Your Own by Laura Carlin and thought it looked intriguing, so I ordered it. I love the illustrations in the book and the story encourages children to think of how they would imagine a world of their own. On a day when I was out sick, I left this book for the substitute teacher to … Read more… →

Dr. Seuss Art Project for Kids: 2nd Grade

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Children’s colorful drawings inspired by Dr. Seuss, with text overlay: "2nd Grade Dr. Seuss Art Project.

I love Dr. Seuss’ art.  Did you know in addition to writing books he created over 10,000 works of art.  Amazing!  The book The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss is a must-have for art teachers who love Seuss. My students, of course, also love Dr. Seuss and read many of his books in their language arts class. We watched a YouTube video about the Secret Art of Dr. Seuss and one with a slideshow of his artwork.  The second slideshow … Read more… →

Sand Art Book by Japanese Artist Naoshi & Giveaway!

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A colorful book cover titled "Ice Cream Work" by Japanese Artist Naoshi, featuring a cartoon girl on an ice cream cone vehicle in a field of strawberries.

I have an interesting and quirky book to show to you today.  The book is called Ice Cream Work by Naoshi and the cool thing is that the pictures are made entirely of colored sand!  I was given a copy of this book to review and a copy to giveaway.  To enter the giveaway for a copy of this book, simply leave a comment on this blog post. The book is very Japanese in style and reminds me of other … Read more… →

Painted Initials with First Grade

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Five colorful, abstract art pieces with patterns and dots in a gallery-style layout, each uniquely bordered, display painted initials to add a personal touch.

One of the best parts about lesson planning and blogging is the ability to get all sorts of new ideas quickly on the Internet.  This was a fun lesson I saw first on The Busy Librarian. We read the book The Dot and the students received papers with their first initial drawn in pencil.  The students then used crayons to draw dots and circles on their initial.  Using watercolor paints, they painted dots and circles and made marks in the … Read more… →

Art Room Organization

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Art Room Organization

I love organizing things, especially art materials.  It makes it easier to find things you need when your room is organized!  I am always revamping my organizational systems and I feel like my room now is arranged pretty well for my needs.  I am sure I will find some things that need tweaking over the next few years. On each table I have a plastic drawer set labeled with pencils & eraser, glue sticks & scissors, and markers.  On the … Read more… →

An Interview with Margaret Peot, author of Stencil Craft

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Cover of the "Stencil Craft Book" by Margaret Peot, showcasing stenciled art on a flower, leaf, mask, whale, and a grid-patterned box.

Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you an interview with Margaret Peot, author of the new book Stencil Craft. Earlier this week I wrote a book review, with the chance to win copies of this book (there is still time to enter).  You can see that blog post here:  Stencil Craft Book Review and Giveaway. Since I am an elementary art teacher, Margaret is also going to share a fun project to do with little children. 1. What … Read more… →

Bird Pictures with First Graders & Studying Audubon

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First graders create bird paintings after learning about Audubon.

I am so proud of how well my first graders drew these beautiful birds and I’m excited to share them with you. We started by reading the beautiful book The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon.  This book is a wonderful connection to science as Audubon was a fascinating man who studied the migration of birds and painted them.  Your budding scientists will love this story. The students looked at reference photos of birds from books.  … Read more… →

A World of Artist Journal Pages Review

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A World of Artist Journal Pages Review

I am excited to share with you the book A World of Artist Journal Pages.  It just arrived in the mail yesterday and it is thick.. just full of inspiring art pages.  And I am super excited because five of my art journal pages have been published in the book! I put together a video flip-through to show you some of the pages of the book.  I have really low voice and my voice is even scratchier with a sore … Read more… →

Emily’s Blue Period – Personal Collages for 3rd Graders

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Collage with robot, bamboo, and various elements like tickets, alphabet print, 1989 dates, and swimming certificates.

Our school librarian introduced this book to me and I think it is such a sweet story.  This book is called Emily’s Blue Period by Cathleen Daly.  The illustrations are lovely. This is a story about Emily, whose parents are divorcing and now she has two homes.  She goes through her own “blue period” of sadness. Emily was learning about Pablo Picasso, his Blue Period and his collages in her art class.   Her art teacher asks the class to … Read more… →

25 Awesome Art Books for Kids

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A collage of 10 colorful art book covers for kids with the title "25 Awesome Art Books for Kids" in the center.

I’m back with another list of 25 more of my favorite art books!  Be forewarned, this is a long post.  I have given you extra details about the books and some ideas to spark your lesson planning. It is no secret that I love children’s books.  Previously, I wrote a list of 25 amazing art books which I like to use in my art classroom.   This has been one of my most viewed posts.  Since then, I have discovered some … Read more… →

Beautiful Oops Painting Project

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Beautiful Oops colorful abstract painting with flowers, hearts, swirls, and various shapes in purple, blue, yellow, and pink.

Did you Celebrate Oops!?  My kindergarten and first graders started this open-ended project by reading the book Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg. We were inspired by the page in the book that said, “A smudge and a smear can make magic appear.” Each student received a piece of paper with a smear of paint on it.  They were challenged to turn that piece of paper into a “beautiful oops” and create a wonderful work of art incorporating the smear. What … Read more… →

Celebrate Oops Day!

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Celebrate Oops Day!

Have you read the book Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg?  Celebrate Oops on January 15, 2015! It is a super fun, interactive book that teaches kids that it’s OK to make mistakes!  From their website:  “CELEBRATE OOPS! is an initiative designed to build confidence and turn accidents into teaching moments. Launching on January 15, 2015 CELEBRATE OOPS! will instill an important life lesson (it’s okay to make mistakes) and foster a great spirit of creativity in your classroom and/or library.” Watch a … Read more… →

Dot Day Celebration

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Dot Day Celebration

Like many other art teachers around the world, my students participated in International Dot Day.  The students dressed up in polka dots, we watched the story of The Dot and sang along to The Dot song. If you have not read the book The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, it’s a must-have for the art teacher! Two of my classes made the giant 3-d stuffed dots.  These were super fun to make.  I traced a hula hoop onto a large … Read more… →

Art Project for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

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Art Project for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

At the beginning of the year when Kindergartners are learning how to write their letters I like to read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom  and teach an art lesson using the alphabet.  Most of the kids have already read this book, but it is a quick read and has a great rhythm.  The kids do love the book.  If you want to get a laugh though, read the one-star reviews on Amazon, lol. Start by painting a paper with … Read more… →

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