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 did an awesome job making Scratch Art stained glass windows after learning about the Notre Dame building. I love the variety and ways they were able to personalize their designs. To see how we made these pictures, visit my previous blog post where I demonstrated the techniques in a how-to video.
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…
After the devastating fire this week at the Notre Dame cathedral, I put some of my previously planned lessons on hold. We are making a bulletin board in tribute of the Notre Dame cathedral. One of my classes is making some stunning and highly detailed pen drawings of parts of the cathedral and the gargoyles. Watercolor washes will be added to the background. I am super impressed with how these are coming along, but none are finished to show you … Read more…
My 3rd and 4th graders are currently making messes with paper mache! They are building and paper maching masks. They learned about Pacific Northwest Coast masks, but also masks from around the world. Here is a sneak peek of what the masks might turn out to look like- they made some preliminary sketches.. What do you think?
I have a new art lesson plan to show you! I wrote this for a substitute lesson, but you can make it as simple or complex as you want to. My students were very interested in watching me design my snowman picture and they were amazed at how detailed the background was, but also they felt confident they could create a Pop Art snowman picture of their own. This lesson is available for purchase in my shop and includes Snowman … Read more…
My third, fourth and fifth grade students just finished up these gorgeous fall still life paintings. Over the years I have built up a collection of fall decorations, artificial leaves, pumpkins and gourds. I also brought in some real pumpkins and gourds as well. If you want to do some seasonal art and still have solid art standards covered, observational drawing is always a good go-to lesson. For this project, we talked a little about arrangement and composition, which usually … Read more…
I love the results of this dotted pumpkin project inspired by the dotted pumpkins of Yayoi Kusama. I did this art lesson with 3rd/4th grade. (Amazon Affiliate links have been used, at no extra cost to you.) I based our project after the lesson taught on the blog Plastiquem. First, I read the book Yayoi Kusama, From Here to Infinity, which is an inspirational book about her artwork and life. This is on my list of top 10 favorite books … Read more…
I often like to connect what we are doing in art to what they have learned about in science class. Insects can provide a lot of inspiration for artists. The colors and designs in insects can be intricate, beautiful and amazing. Start by showing the students pictures of many types of insects (or collect real ones, if you are brave.) Talk about the parts of an insect.. head, abdomen, thorax, antennae, wings. Looking at reference photos and begin sketching insects. … Read more…
Art History Folded Petal– Getting to Know You Activity This is a fun and educational “Getting to Know You” activity I did with some classes last year. I have these art history folded petal templates in my shop. On one side are artworks from art history with a little prompt. For example, Dog Lying in the Snow, by Franz Marc. The prompt is “Draw a favorite animal. On the reverse side of the folded petals, the students draw … 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…
This year, our school has been focusing on kindness and cooperation. In art class, my students created posters to display around the school about kindness, cooperation and playground etiquette. Students cooperated together to make posters about cooperation! Each group received a slip of paper with a cooperation “slogan”. The Power of Cooperation C – Care for each other – Be Kind O – Obey rules O – Offer to help others P – Participate together as a team E – … Read more…
Romero Britto‘s colorful and bold style appeals to children and many people of all ages. Why do I love Romero Britto? Because he’s making things that are HAPPY and the world needs more of that. It works great to tie in with the study of patterns. His art is full of color. Kids can relate to it. His artwork has been made into many products, which shows ways artists can make a living as a contemporary artist and the potential … Read more…
One day this summer, my daughter came home from camp with a circle design drawn using metallic gel pens. I thought it looked so cool, I wanted to try it with my students in 3rd/4th grade. I usually teach about mandalas and radial balance at this age level. Mandalas have religious and spiritual significance around the world. They have been used for meditation and relaxation. I showed the students mandalas including Tibetan and Navajo sand paintings, ancient Aztec and architecture. … Read more…
Thank you to all who entered the Beautiful Oops journal giveaway. The winner has been randomly chosen and notified… and that winner is Amanda Shaw. Congratulations! When I was at the NAEA conference two years ago, I saw a station where people were making wooden Kokeshi dolls in the vendor area. Every time I walked by it, either it was too full or I had to be on my way somewhere else. So, I didn’t make one. But, I found … Read more…
