Last weekend I took a trip with my husband and daughter to Schaumburg, IL to see the Lego Brickworld Convention. My husband is an avid Lego collector and builder. As an art teacher, I saw some fun things I snapped pictures of to share with you. It was really great to see kids and parents together enjoying a fun hobby. Many of the exhibits were made by adult Lego builders and others were made by parents with their kids. Here … Read more…
Welcome to the 4th post in my series On Teaching Art. The first post and the background behind this series is On Teaching Art: Art vs. Craft. The second post was On Teaching Art #2: Organizing Curriculum. The third post was On Teaching Art #3: Integrating Art with Other Subjects. The question posed for this blog post is: “What are the important principles for teaching art that my students should remember? For instance, I can imagine that it’s important for them … 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…
So, you’re in charge of Spirit Week! Do you need some good ideas? (See how I used a photo with the kids’ faces obscured? Don’t use pictures where the kids are identifiable unless you have permission from the parents or school. This photo was on our public school website so I grabbed it from there.) Be sure to check out my newer post “10 More Spirit Day Ideas for Scho0l”. Spirit Days can be fun scattered throughout the … Read more…
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.
Hi! Happy Summer! When I am not teaching art to little kiddos, I spend some of my free time writing articles and submitting them to various magazines. I am a contributing editor for Featuring magazine, which is a relatively new international art magazine. I am so proud of our magazine and I wanted to share our latest issue with you. Wowza, Issue #4 is almost here! We’ve been working really hard on this issue and even though we’ve had many … Read more…
Phew. I can’t believe another school year is over. I was just thinking yesterday that it was crazy that I have been teaching for 11 1/2 years already. I’ve been at my current school for 7 years! Don’t the years all start to blur together? When you try to remember classes you had years ago the memories are fuzzy. It’s amazing how every year there is more to learn and new things to try. The yearbooks finally came in, the … Read more…
This oil pastel drawing project is inspired by the artwork of Paul Gauguin, in particular his painting Tahitian Landscape. To build up a little enthusiasm, when the kids arrived to class there was an envelope at their seat. I told them to open the envelope and see what was inside. I had printed off pictures of Tahitian Landscape, laminated them and then cut them into puzzle pieces. The kids worked quickly to put together the puzzles. Then, I introduced the … Read more…
Did you know Hans Christian Andersen was an accomplished paper cutter? He created some very intricate and amazing silhouettes. I used a chapter from the book The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen to teach about his paper cuttings. Perhaps if your students are reading fairy tales, this would be a great author/artist to incorporate. The third and fourth grade class drew silhouettes on black paper (using regular pencils) and cut them out. (Some chose to create their picture … Read more…
Take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable. This fun lesson is perfect to teach observational drawing with minimal supplies and easy set up. 1. Take off a shoe. 2. Observe the lines, shapes and contours of the shoe. 3. Concentrate and draw all of the lines you see on the shoe. Don’t forget the little details, such as shoelaces, the tongue and any patterns you see on the shoe. *Optional Step* Enlarge the shoe drawings on a photocopier. 4. … Read more…
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…
I introduce paper weaving with my kindergarten class. We use colored strips, scrapbook paper and wrapping paper. Here is a paper weaving tutorial. Check out my Weaving Ideas Pinterest board if you want to see more fun weaving techniques. –>
Congrats Melanie! Send me your address: marciadotcom@yahoo.com so we can get your samples sent out. If you didn’t win (or enter the contest) stay tuned as I will have another product giveaway shortly. Melanie May 14, 2013 at 5:09 pm who said, “I got a roll at the FAEA conference but not sure what to do with it and that one roll would be enough for an entire grade level to use. Would love to win some more AND to … Read more…
From time to time, I will show you some artwork from the middle school classes. I teach K-6 and Rebecca teaches the older students. These paintings on canvas were particularly beautiful. Painting water and glass is definitely challenging, but these kids did an awesome job! The 7th/8th graders set up their still lifes and took a photograph of the setup. Then, they used acrylic paint to paint them. I will be picking the winner of the Smart Fab sample rolls … Read more…
Have you used Smart Fab in your classroom? I was recently sent a sample pack of this product and I would love to see how you’ve used it. We are going to use it for accent shapes in fabric collages. Check out this instructional video about how to use Smart Fab. This product is a non-woven fabric that can be used in art projects for kids and adults. The unique properties of Smart-Fab allow it to be easily cut, glued, … Read more…
