Every so often, I host after school art classes. I try to have some fun projects that I wouldn’t normally teach during the school day. These magical wands were a hit with both the boys and girls who signed up for this class. Use dowel rods or natural sticks as the wand base. Twist, tie, wrap and hot glue fabric, ribbons, feathers, pipe cleaners and colored tape around the stick. Tie on flowers, add glitter glue and sequins and use … Read more…
These paper mache masks by the 3rd/4th grade received lots of compliments when they were hanging in the hallway. The class was studying Native American history in their Social Studies and we looked at some Pacific Northwest Coast masks and we discussed the functions of masks in general throughout the world. We started with a mask form (made of paper mache) that I ordered in a class pack from Nasco. From this starting point, the students built up and embellished … Read more…
One of my students paints deer skulls when he visits his grandparents. His grandpa paints them as a hobby. He brought one in to show us today! He is in 3rd grade.. isn’t this beautifully done?
If you are looking for some new art center ideas for your classroom, look no further! Today I’m going to share with you 5 art centers my students have been enjoying lately. After visiting two choice-based art classrooms, I’ve decided to incorporate some free choice days into my class schedule. I think it is important to let students try out different art materials and ideas at their own pace. However, I am still continuing my art curriculum and will teach … Read more…
These cute pinch pot monsters were made by my 2nd grade class. Here is a handout you could use about how to make a pinch pot. After making a pinch pot, the students turned them on their side, squished the mouth down a little and then added eyes, noses, horns, ears, tongues and teeth. Make sure to score and add water in between each part. (Some people make slip, but I have found that with our consistency of clay, just … Read more…
Hi friends. I have so many projects back-logged to show you. I did clay with all of my classes during the month of September. We are building on to our school and because of construction, our kiln will be out of commission at the end of November through the end of the school year, so we have to get all of our clay done now! My 5th/6th grade classes made clay castles. They will be studying the Medieval period later … Read more…
Last week, I posted about line drawings that my kindergarten students made with oil pastels and watercolor paints. To finish these off, my students glued paper strip lines (folded to make zig zags, curled and pleated) to the bottom of the page. The students reinforced their learning of types of lines and were introduced to paper manipulation techniques. Then, we rolled and stapled them at the top and bottom to create a hanging windsock. A little bit of double stick … 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.
This is a tried and true clay lesson for kids. Who doesn’t love cute monsters? The 2nd graders started by making pinch pots. This handout shows you how. Turn the pinch pot on its side and add eyes, teeth, ears, tongues, feet and other details. We painted ours with acrylic and tempera paints.
Hello all! Wow, summer is almost here! It’s hard to believe, right? I entered a blog giveaway to receive a free layout review from a web designer. I won! She posted the review on Blacksburgbelle’s blog. Bottom line: reduce the clutter. I think it was very useful and gave me a lot to think about! Maybe you will get some ideas from her review. This will be a little project to work on during the summer. Building with cardboard and … Read more…
The fifth and sixth graders study the Medieval time period in their Language Arts/Social Studies class. I love teaching this clay castle project because it allows the students to practice important clay building skills (plus it’s just fun!): rolling slabs building with slabs scoring and using slip smoothing adding embellishments glazing We started by drawing some preliminary sketches of Medieval castles. The students looked at some examples for reference. The Medieval Castle (one example of a resource) They drew their … Read more…
Making clay mugs with 3rd graders.. This is a great lesson that can be adaptable to pretty much any age. I’ve taught this project with middle school students and had very successful results. This is the youngest I’ve taught the clay face vase project and I think they did a very good job! Clay techniques used: rolling slabs and using a straight edge to cut a clay rectangle tracing a cutting a clay circle for the base forming facial features … Read more…
I think Alaskan native masks are so beautiful. Our 2nd graders learn about Alaska in their social studies class and to connect with this unit, they explore the meanings and characteristics of Alaskan native art. Here is an example of a mask from Alaska: Our masks are colorful and each child felt free to express their own ideas and to create their own meanings for their mask. We watched an excellent Alaskan art video that I highly recommend. It … Read more…
Creating Shakers from Paper Mache Introducing the project: To start I simply tell the kids we are making rattles. I will save the cultural connections for a later class. One reason for waiting on the cultural connections is that I don’t want them to copy Native American rattles, but the information I present about the Native Americans is to show how other cultures have made musical instruments. Also, this part of the project is time consuming and we need every … Read more…
This is an art project that I repeat every year, because it is such a great process for the kids… starting with an initial sketched idea, building an armature, applying paper mache, painting and adding embellishments. I tie this lesson to the Pacific Northwest Coast masks. You can see masks from previous years here and the process photos here. Thank you if you voted for me in the Art Ed blog of the year contest! While I did not place … Read more…
