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Category Archives: painting

Paul Klee Castle Collage

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Colorful abstract collage of a whimsical cityscape with geometric buildings, clouds, and a castle against a white background.

Paul Klee was an important painter in the history of modern art.  I have always been drawn to his colorful, abstract pictures.  Children can relate to the simple geometric shapes and bold colors.  His art has been related to Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism. Swiss artist Paul Klee painted the Castle and Sun with simplified shapes, but viewers can easily see the way the shapes form a castle or city-like scene.  For this lesson, we are going to paint colorful swatches … Read more… →

Flower Paintings by First Grade: Learn about Van Gogh and Hundertwasser

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First-grade children's artwork featuring abstract flower paintings with petals in various designs and bright colors on a blue background.

I’m proud of this lesson and how colorful and unique each of these pictures turned out!  I like to introduce a bit of art history to the younger kids, but I didn’t want the kids to copy a famous painting. Artistic Behaviors: Artists develop their own style. Artists create art that honors someone or something. Skills & Concepts: Discuss the differences and similarities between two artworks of a similar theme. Develop hand/eye coordination through painting and collage. Learn various techniques … Read more… →

Sand Painting with Kids

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Lively abstract painting featuring various shapes and patterns in red, blue, yellow, and green.

If you are looking for something to add a new dimension to regular painting, sand painting just might be the ticket!  The tactile experience is something exciting for children. I recently taught a unit on painting with sand to my third and fourth grade class.  You may remember my “how-to” blog post about this technique.  If you are wondering how we did our sand paintings, check out that post for all the details.  For a more advanced technique using adhesive … Read more… →

Mixed Media Snowmen Art Project for Kids (1st Grade)

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Two snowmen with scarves and hats stand in a colorful, whimsical winter scene with stars and snowflakes.

Are you looking for a fun new way to make snowmen with your kids?  I got the idea to use makeup remover pads  from Happy Hooligans. I did this project with 1st graders. Start by mixing shades of blue paint with white and other cool colors.  Explain to kids that when you mix white with a color, it makes a lighter tint of that color.  Paint a background for your snowmen.  Let it dry. Next, set out makeup remover pads, … Read more… →

Spirals, Flowers and Patterns: Learning about Hundertwasser

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Colorful drawing of two abstract flowers with spiral stems and a bright, Hundertwasser-inspired background pattern resembling a sunburst.

“A good picture is when the picture is full of magic, when you can feel the happiness in it, when it makes you laugh or cry, or when it makes something happen. It should be like a flower or a tree. It should be like Nature. It should be that we miss it when it isn’t there.” Hundertwasser Friedensreich Hundertwasser believed that nature and beauty was the key to happiness. He was born Fritz Stowasser but created his “artist name” … Read more… →

Sand Art Paintings

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A colorful abstract sand painting with bold shapes and lines in purple, red, blue, pink, and yellow.

Are you looking for a fun art project that your students will definitely be excited about?  Create a COLORED SAND PAINTING!  Kids love the tactile experience of touching the sand and the bright colors are so appealing.  Using sand is a novel experience and kids have fond associations with playing in sand boxes or on beaches. Today I am going to show you an easy way to create beautiful sand paintings using paints, Elmer’s glue and colored sand.  My students … Read more… →

Mondrian Art Project for Kids with Dab and Dot Markers

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Markers labeled yellow, red, and blue lie on an abstract art background with bold lines and colored squares, reminiscent of Piet Mondrian artwork.

I had the opportunity to try out Dab and Dot Dauber Markers and write a blog post for their website DoodleHog.  These are similar to other paint dotters, but one difference I noticed is that the colors seem richer and better than other brands I have tried.  The colors mix together very well. Piet Mondrian Dab and Dot Art Project Piet Mondrian was one of the most important and well known abstract painters.  But did you know his early work … Read more… →

Art with Letters and Words: Painting over Adhesive Letters

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Colorful illustration of the word "DREAM" surrounded by letters, stars, hearts, triangles, and other shapes in vibrant hues.

Age Level:  Kindergarten/First Grade Learning Objectives:  Learn how artists can use letters and numbers in art Use overlap Identify and use shapes Develop fine motor skills by tracing and painting Materials Board Mate Repositional Paper Letters/Numbers Board Mate Jumbo Reuseable Stencils Other assorted stencils of your choice Painter’s Squeeze ‘n Brush paints (or other tempera paint of your choice) Watercolor paints, brush, water or brush markers White cardstock or thick paper Process:  1.  View and discuss artworks that have words … 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… →

Kindergarten Painted Bears

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A pair of painted bears: one wearing a blue outfit and the other a green shirt. Text above reads "PAINTED BEARS," making it a fun addition to any kindergarten classroom.

I saw this super cute lesson on Hannah’s Art Club and I just loved it.  My kindergartners have a whole “teddy bear” unit where they read books about bears, do related activities and have a teddy bear picnic (they all bring in their favorite teddy bear to attend the picnic.) At the beginning of the year, simply cutting out pieces, gluing them and following directions is a huge challenge for 5 and 6 year olds.  This project introduced creating texture … Read more… →

Tape and Paint Pictures

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Tape and Paint Pictures

I came up with this lesson after browsing the internet looking for contemporary artists to study.  I came across Fiona Curran’s‘s beautiful paintings with straight lines and geometric shapes.  Here are some of her artworks: At the end of the year, my students were losing focus and were ready for summer to begin!  I wanted a fun lesson that would involve experimentation and play.  I love using colored and patterned tape so I showed the second grade students how you … Read more… →

3 Art Projects Using Leaves

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Three colorful leaf-themed watercolor paintings overlapping each other on a white background, showcasing creative art projects with vibrant leaves.

Summer is the perfect time to create art with your child.  Nature provides endless inspiration for art.  Here are three fun art activities using leaves that you can do with kids or just on your own! This post was created as part of the Elmer’s Crafty Bloggers team. Learning Activity Topic:  Using nature to inspire art Educational Foundation: 1.  Identifying and sorting items from nature 2.  Using shapes and variety to create a composition 3.  Learning about negative and positive … Read more… →

Masking with Watercolor

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Dream-themed watercolor painting featuring stars, hearts, and whimsical swirls against a vibrant blue and purple background inspired by cosmic visions.

  Hi friends! First of all, have you entered my BIG FUN ART TEACHER giveaway?  If not, go to this blog post or the Facebook page to enter. Today’s blogpost is a cross-post.  This week I was a guest blogger on Marit’s Paper World for her Quirky Dutch Summer series.  In case you missed it, I thought I would share it here as well.  This is a fun and easy technique you could try with your students. Masking with Watercolor … Read more… →

Painting the Sun- Metepec Suns

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Sun Paintings with 3rd Graders

My third graders ended the school year learning a little about the symbolism of the sun in Mexican pottery.  The sun has been used as a symbol of the life-giving energy and of good luck.  Cassie Stephens has a very good Prezi here about Metepec, Mexico. To make these colorful, sunny pictures we started by tracing a circle shape for the face of the sun.  Then we designed our faces with unique facial expressions, rays and other designs.  We talked … 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… →

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