Prayers and Love
Prayers and love to those in Connecticut. I pray for peace, I pray for love, I pray for our country and world. As a teacher, parent and human my heart is heavy today.
Mixed Media Canvases with Kids
Thanks for your kind comments about my fingers! They are actually healing much faster than I expected. As you might know, I am a lover of all things mixed media! I also enjoy occasionally teaching an after school art workshop for my students (I’d love to do more, but since my daughter goes to daycare it’s a bit tricky.) I thought painted canvases would be a great gift for kids to give someone in their family, so I decided to … Read more…
Egyptian Clay Sarcophagus– 4th/5th grade
These are the fun sarcophagi the 4th/5th graders made from clay. We spent a few days learning about Egyptian art and drawing them on paper. See my previous post about the drawings. Due to my finger problem, I’m not going to type out full directions for the clay sarcophagus.. but we traced the template onto slabs of clay for the top and bottom, built the bottom up with coils and then carved designs in the top of the box. Kids … Read more…
Vote in the Art Ed Blog of the Year contest!
Exercise your right to vote! I just found out from Jessica over at The Art of Education that my art education blog has been selected as one of the finalists to win “Art Ed Blog of the Year!” There are so many great blogs on this list and they are all ones that I follow on my blog reader. Take a look at all the ones posted and you will get so many good ideas for your teaching. Art is Basic … Read more…
Found Object Faces– 1st grade
(these are the projects I burnt my fingers on!) USE LOW TEMP GLUE GUNS!!! Anyways, these are really charming and fun projects. The 1st graders learned about recycled art and how to use unconventional materials in art. We read 2 books by Hanoch Piven, which feature portraits made out of objects. The children brought in objects from home that represented aspects of themselves and we assembled the parts into faces in art class. We used foam board and matboard for … Read more…
Winter Collages
My posting is going to be limited for a little while. I burnt four of my fingers on a hot glue gun yesterday and had to go to the urgent care. Basically the glue dripped on four fingers on my left hand… I was sitting in the teacher’s lounge peeling the hot glue off my fingers and crying. Definitely a shock to the system. They are ok now… just some throbbing on and off. I ordered low temp glue … Read more…
Frogs in a Pond (with Monet) 1st Grade
I love lessons where I can tie in different areas of study, art history and art techniques! This is a project I developed that incorporates study of frogs, Monet and watercolor painting. To start this project, we learn about the artist Claude Monet and his paintings of ponds and lilypads. We read a book about Monet from the Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists series. (This series is awesome for read-alouds in class. I love the picture books about … Read more…
African Cloth Painting– 3rd Grade
The Intermediates (grade 3) are studying Africa in their Social Studies class. We learned about the African Korhogo Clothes. See this link for more details. This project focused on how symbols are used in African art. The students designed their own painted Korhogo cloth on muslin. They decorated the border with symbols and drew their main figure with Sharpie. Then, they added paint with watercolor.
Name Pattern Designs
This is a great project that ties together math, art, and social studies. We looked at the repeating patterns and shapes in Islamic tile designs (they are studying Islam in social studies) for inspiration. The tutorial for this project is in a blogpost I made earlier. The only difference is that this year we used light tables to trace the image through the triangles.
Artsy Christmas Presents for Kids
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…
Egyptian Sarcophagus Drawings– 4th/5th grade
As much as possible, I like to tie in art projects to what the students are learning in their other classrooms. The 4th/5th grade class studies ancient civilizations and has a big unit on Egypt. In art class, I showed them a long slideshow about Egyptian art and architecture. Then, the students made a sarcophagus drawing. They all started with a shape tracer for the sarcophagus. I don’t often use tracers, but once in awhile, I think it helps to … Read more…
Collograph Prints: 2nd Grade
These collograph prints by 2nd graders were made by gluing cut out foam letters and shapes to a piece of cardboard. The kids drew and cut out their own foam letters and shapes, but I also had a selection of other foam pieces to add. We tied this project to the art of Jasper Johns. Before rolling and printing the plates, the kids glued shapes of colored paper on their background, so there would be some color showing through. Then, … Read more…
Dr. Suess Architecture– 2nd grade
The 2nd graders studied Dr. Suess books in their classroom. In art class, I showed them the art of Dr. Suess. Did you know he made paintings and sculptures? I showed them this book: The Secret Art of Dr. Suess.. a must-have for art teachers teaching about Dr. Suess! I love his artwork. Fantastic, whimsical, charming! There are a few pictures in there better left for adults, so photocopy the pages you want the kids to see and pass them … Read more…
Collages
More fun collages!
Coloring Book
I just wanted to share with you this cool Doodlers Anonymous coloring book link. I have a drawing that is going to be in the coloring book! I can’t wait to see it. (I haven’t been paid to promote the book, but I just wanted to share my good news!) “The anticipated Volume II of the Doodlers Anonymous coloring book features the doodles and drawings of 60 artists from around the globe – some fresh novices, others seasoned veterans, all … Read more…
