The first day of school was an orientation day for Kinders and new kids. We had a very shortened schedule and I saw the Kindergartners for about 10-15 minutes. I never feel like I know what the best use of that time is, because it is too short to do any real art projects and it is the first time I am meeting them. So, I decided to read them a story about colors and then do a simple coloring … Read more…
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…
Many of you have probably know I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter. If you are friends with me on Instagram you have seen pics of her. I LOVE that she loves art. She has a creative spark to her and her favorite art materials are oil pastels, watercolors and markers. She doesn’t like getting messy, so we usually have a wet paper towel or baby wipe nearby. This summer she went to a preschool camp (which was in … Read more…
Hi folks! What have you been doing this summer? It’s already flying by, isn’t it? Here is a recap of my summer so far. What I HAVE been doing: keeping Daria busy playdates with friends Children’s museum, zoo, pool, splash parks, playgrounds feeding Desmond and changing lots of diapers organizing my room at school (I will give you a tour of my revamped room when it’s all done.) grilling out, eating icecream, going out to eat family reunion in IL … Read more…
The Pacon company sent me some free supplies to try out. These are what I received. Since it is the summer and I’m not teaching any classes, I decided to do a project with my daughter who is 4 years old. We rolled out the fingerpaint paper and poured some Crayola fingerpaints . She wanted to paint her pony with the paints. I let her, because we have so many of those darn things from garage sales. She knew to … Read more…
What did I do on our two “cold” days off school this week? Well, besides snuggling under the warm covers and working on some school work, my 4 year old and I made some canvas collages for her bedroom. While I would not necessarily recommend this for a project in an art class, I see no problem introducing appropriation in the context of Pop Art. After all, Andy Warhol used cartoons in his famous art. I observed a really awesome … Read more…
We took a trip this week to our local children’s museum in Madison. I was busy chasing around my daughter, but I managed to snap a few pictures of the awesomeness in this place. The museum is amazing. The lower level has a lot of things geared for dramatic play, such as a pretend garden, a water room, dress-up, puppets, etc. There is also an amazing “bone” bridge to climb. The upper level has building materials, like Tinker toys, Legos, … Read more…
There are lots of great ideas on the internet and I have enjoyed reading so many art teacher blogs. There are over 300 art blogs on the art teacher blog directory. That is a lot of blogs to browse! Some are older and haven’t been updated in awhile. Once in awhile I will notice someone on a forum or blog saying “Help! I’m switching to middle school! Any good ideas?” I thought it would be more useful to have the … Read more…
This is what happens every time I try to take out my art journal when Daria is awake! LOL. She never wants to color in her own sketchbook, just mine! We are both LOVING these new RoseArt Neon Gel Crayons, 6-Count, Assorted Colors that I ordered from Amazon. Cheap, and perfect for both adults and kids. They are like very smooth oil pastels. I like the brightness of the colors. There is neon orange, yellow, green, pink and purple.. There … Read more…
Are you wondering what to get a child in your family for the holidays? As an art teacher, I see what the kids really like and what they gravitate towards to when they are given free time in art. These are some popular items for kids that I have personally used and recommend. Most of these can be found at your local Target or Michaels (or other craft/art store). Don’t forget to print off a coupon online if you are … Read more…
Over the summer I tested out several ways to make bubble prints. I experimented and discovered they way that works best for me. I decided to do bubble printing with some students this week, because it is the week before break and I wanted something fun and out-of-the-ordinary to do with them. So apparently bubbles are out of season right now. I went to Hobby Lobby however, and found this pack of 24 small party bubbles. Pop off the top … Read more…
What can you do with a 2 year old to decorate pumpkins? STICKERS!
After experimenting with several ways of doing bubble prints, I think I found a way that works well. I poured some kids bubbles into small containers. Then, I mixed a few drops of food coloring into the containers. The bubbles were cheapo and weren’t really bubbly, so I added some dish soap as well. Then, I blew bubbles just as you normally would blow bubbles and let them land on the paper. When they popped, they left these splatters and … Read more…
Daria’s second preschool art class was all about gluing. She had a blast thickly applying the glue stick to plastic containers and putting little bits and bobs on it. She had fun sorting the pom-poms and coloring with oil pastels on the plastic. I didn’t know oil pastels showed up on plastic!
We had Daria’s (my daughter) first art class today and she really enjoyed the water cup! The kids painted on the floor and there was a big tarp protecting the floor. Some kids used their hands, others brushes and others used their feet. Some of the other objects the kids (aged 18 months-3 years old) used to paint with were pineconesropespongescorks Painting with a rope.. what does it do? And here’s something cool, the people over at Somerset Studio magazine … Read more…
