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

Snowman Art Project, Dog Portrait, Smiley Art Faces and More! (5 Fabulous Things)

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Three fabulous drawings of snowmen at night: left and right snowmen have hats and scarves, while the middle one sports a striped hat. Each stands in a snowy landscape adorned with trees and crescent moons.

Hello! A long time ago I used to do round-up posts of random things I am currently loving. Some have to do with art, some are just fun! I decided to bring that idea back. Hopefully some of my current favorite things will inspire you. 1. My Dad’s artwork My Dad has been making art for many years (mostly colored pencils and pastels) and recently I was reminded of how much I love this colored pencil drawing he did of … Read more… →

Grabie 100 Watercolor Set: My New Favorite

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As you may know, I have a little collection of watercolor sets and I love trying out new ones. Previously, my all-time favorite watercolor set was the Sakura Koi travel set. It was just so portable, handy and the colors are vibrant. When I saw this new set by Grabie, I was intrigued and wanted to try it out. 100 yummy colors! Grabie sent me a sample to try out and review for the blog. I was NOT disappointed! (Amazon … Read more… →

Chalk and Oil Pastel Landscapes using Stencils

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Two childlike oil pastel landscapes: one with a purple sky, sun, birds, tree, and waterfall; the other with a red sky, birds, trees, a river, and mountains.

Are you looking for a highly engaging art project using chalk pastels? I must admit, chalk pastels are not my favorite. The dust, the crumbles, the mess… and not to mention that chalk gives me the heebie-jeebies (as one kid said at school!) But, this project, the kids LOVED! They thought it was so exciting. And I love this project because it allows for a lot of creative freedom. It also give students the chance to see the difference between … Read more… →

Free Viking Ship Templates | Art Project

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Four colorful Viking ship artworks with decorative sails on a blue and white background; text reads "Viking Ship Artwork, free templates for your next art project!

My first grade students had a blast making these Viking ship pictures. They have been studying about the Vikings in their Language Arts & Social Studies class, so it was a fun cross-curricular project. (See more images of Viking ships here.) I have provided free templates for you to use! You can find them for free at my shop here. Here’s how you use them: I hope you enjoy this project as much as my students did! It was a … Read more… →

Do You Want More Art Teacher Resources?

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Of course you do! And wouldn’t you like 25% off!?   On Monday and Tuesday you can get a full 25% off in my shop using coupon code CYBER24.  There are all kinds of fun and ready-to-print resources at my shop.   …. and much more! Check out lots of great art resources at TPT: https://www.teacherspayteacher… Winter Art Projects for Kids In this bundle, you will receive two popular winter art activities for elementary school- Snow Globes and Pop Art Snowman Drawing Lessons! … Read more… →

Free Elementary Artwork Reflection Sheet with Questions

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Hello! Are you looking for a simple and effective way to help your elementary students reflect on their art? One of my goals this year has been to find creative ways to get students talking about their artwork and thinking more deeply about their process. My co-worker and I brainstormed some thoughtful questions for this sheet and we came up with a quick reflection sheet that your students can fill out after finishing a piece and then attach to the … Read more… →

Gift Ideas for Kids Who Love Art

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For kids who love art, gift ideas include vibrant supplies like paint sets, markers, crayons, coloring books, clay, and art trading cards.

Are you looking for some fun gift ideas for kids in your life who love art? This list of art gift ideas are things my own kids and my students really enjoy. Click on this link, which has a list of my favorite art gift ideas for children. (This is my Amazon affiliate storefront, in which I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. This money helps to maintain my blog.) Thanks for reading!

Easy Printable Art Sub Plan for Elementary: A Balancing Act

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Substitute plan poster titled "A Balancing Act" features an illustration of a whimsical stacked tower. This Art Education piece includes goals and steps for using color and shape to create a balanced picture, serving as an ideal Art Sub Plan.

This is a sub plan that is perfect for upper elementary. If you wake up sick one day, it’s a good idea to have prepared sub plans that are easy for any teacher to follow (even if they don’t have an art background). This is a simple, one page art handout with goals, steps and an example. I saw this idea on a Facebook group many years ago and created this handout to share with other teachers. This drawing activity uses … Read more… →

Test Driving Some New Art Materials!

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A variety of colorful art materials, including markers, crayons, and pens, arranged on a table, showcasing new art products.

One of my favorite hobbies is discovering and finding new art supplies. Watch as I test out some fun, new (to me) art materials. I’m not sure how new they are, but they were all exciting finds for me. As an Amazon influencer I receive a small commission through links on this blog (at no extra cost to you.) The earnings go to support the upkeep of this website. I am completely honest in my reviews and won’t tell you … Read more… →

Free Art Sub Plan: Primary Color Hands

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This Free Art Sub Plan provides a creative worksheet for Grades K-2 featuring the "Primary Color Hands" project. It includes detailed steps and a charming hand-drawn example, showcasing vibrant patterns on traced hands for an engaging art experience.

This is an art project perfect for a kindergarten to 2nd grade substitute lesson plan. When you have to take a sick day, you never know if your sub is going to have an art background or not. This is a simple, one page art handout with goals, steps and an example. In order to print out the full, high resolution handouts, visit my TPT shop for the FREE download! This was a lesson idea a former colleague shared with … Read more… →

Art Sub Plan- Free! Geometric Shaded Animals

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Instruction sheet for shading an animal drawing. Includes color value scale, goals, steps, and a geometric shaded animal illustration with labeled color areas from white to black. Perfect for art sub plans.

This is an art project perfect for a substitute lesson plan. When you have to take a sick day, you never know if your sub is going to have an art background or not. This is a simple, one page art handout with goals, steps and an example. The second page has a value scale to practice shading on. In order to print out the full, high resolution handouts, visit my TPT shop for the FREE download! This was actually … Read more… →

Eagle Mural with Summer Camp

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A vibrant eagle mural showcases a colorful abstract eagle head with overlapping, multicolored shapes set against a black background.

This is a very large canvas we painted during our summer camp! A family donated some big canvases that they decided not to use at home. This canvas is about 5 feet tall! This was available for the kids to work on throughout the week during summer camp when kids wanted to take a break from the other proejcts they were doing. It is now proudly hanging in our stairwell.

Abstract Art Project: Mixed Media Explorations

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Explore the vibrant world of mixed media with this art project worksheet and example. Featuring a list of materials and a colorful abstract design, it invites creativity as pencils, paint palettes, and decorative elements surround the image.

This is a fun art project I like to use to get students exploring different types of materials at the beginning of the year. It’s also a low-pressure way to introduce mixed media and abstract art. Set up the room by placing a wide variety of art materials in a centrally located place in your room. The way this works is that you start by drawing an abstract design on your paper using a variety of shapes and lines to … Read more… →

Vincent: Starry Starry Night book

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Book cover of "Vincent: Starry Starry Night" featuring a child in a garden filled with sunflowers and irises, capturing the essence of Van Gogh.

Hello! I wanted to share with you this sweet new book I received as a review copy. This book is so tender and lovely and has a fantastic social-emotional connection. This book was inspired by the song by Don McLean. Starry, starry night Paint your palette blue and gray Look out on a summer’s day With eyes that know the darkness in my soul. (Don McLean, “Vincent”) The book is called Vincent: Starry Starry Night (Amazon Affiliate links used. I … Read more… →

Art Sub Plan for Elementary Students- Animals in Cars!

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Illustrated animals in cars shaped like food items provide the perfect creative art assignment for elementary students, including detailed drawing guidelines ideal for an engaging art sub plan.

Hello! I have been working on a series of “print and go” substitute teaching plans for elementary art class. These will be set up with goals and steps clearly written for a sub. You can print off these handouts for the students, gather supplies and have things all set to go in case you have an emergency illness and need to stay home. Some I will be offering for free on my blog and others will be in my shop. … Read more… →

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