I am not quite ready to go back to school yet and I am guessing you are not ready either. But, the Art Ed Blogger’s Network is here to help you start planning! Our topic this month is the “first week of school”. A few years ago, I compiled a huge list of tips for the first days of school. These tips were submitted by art teachers all over the world. This gigantic list of tips will help you get … Read more…
I realized I never posted pictures of our finished mural at church. I’ve been so busy with end-of-the-year stuff for school. I worked on this mural all year with the 4th/5th grade Sunday School class. It is 4 ft x 8ft. These were the best kids to work with! They had great ideas, were mature and got along so well! The process was a long one, with a few mistakes along the way. We started by getting plywood for our … Read more…
Isn’t this graphic the cutest?! I am part of an Art Ed Blogger’s Network which is a collective of writers who blog about a certain topic each month. At the bottom of the post is a link to all the participating bloggers. The theme this month is about Summer Art. What is an Art Journal? An art journal is a visual diary… it is place for artists to express themselves using imagery, words, colors, patterns and designs. An art journal … Read more…
This 12,000 brick model of the Wisconsin State Capitol building was built by my husband Andrew. It was commissioned by the Madison Children’s Museum to help celebrate the 100th birthday of the building. Hear about this project in his own words. 1. How did this opportunity come about? “I was contacted by the Children’s Museum after the staff found a picture online of a much smaller version of the Capitol that I had built. They were interested in commissioning a LEGO model … Read more…
About 6 years ago I came up with the idea to do a Summer Art Challenge, based on the fun I had as a girl doing those summer reading programs where you earned a little prize at the library. You can see the first one my students did back in 2012 here. They brought in their summer artwork and we had a great display! In 2015, I did another summer art challenge with printable handouts on my blog. I think … Read more…
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We made a few updates to our mural at school. We painted the original in 2015. This year, after some unfortunate defacing with Sharpie, we cleaned it up and realized some areas needed touching up. So my helpful middle school study hall kids decided to touch up and help me with some additions. They added the chicks and chicken at the front (every other year our Science department hatches chicks). And then we decided to add a tree branch with … Read more…
My 1st graders had a blast making these found object puppets from recycled materials. We read this book by Hanoch Piven. To get the full lesson plan with materials list, parental note, background info and student reflection sheet visit my Teachers Pay Teachers shop to download.
We made 3 fingerprint plates for our school auction. The materials we used were Bisque fired dinner plates from Mayco. Underglaze in various colors Fine line writer bottle (filled with glaze) Clear Gloss Glaze The first was a Dr. Seuss themed “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” plate for the Kindergartners. The fish are made from their fingerprints. The second was a bird plate for the 1st graders. All of the birds were made from the kids’ fingerprints. Their … Read more…
This month the Art Ed Blogger’s Network is talking about student engagement and participation. When I tell people that I am an art teacher, some people who say ”Wow, that must be so much fun! I bet the kids all just love art.” Well, there are fun times, but there are times when not everyone is engaged in the media or project we are working on. I’m sure this happens in all classrooms. Sometimes it is due to lack of alignment … Read more…
Every year my students and I create artworks for our school’s auction. If you look here, you can see some of the auction artworks from previous years. This year, each student in grades K-8 made textured clay circle tiles. We glued them on to several mirrors. The process to make the clay circle tiles is quite simple, yet it teaches the kids several important skills for working with clay. First, roll out a flat piece of clay (called a “slab”). … Read more…
Earlier I wrote a tutorial on how to make sailboats from milk cartons. My 1st grade students have finished making their sailboats. Here are some of their finished projects! After the boats were made, the students drew pictures of their boats. I had stuffed animals available if they wanted to draw a stuffed animal in the boat. Have you ever made boats with your kids?
What could be more fun than fairy houses and gnome homes? I don’t know, but let me know if you find out! I’ve discovered that kids love 1) Open-ended projects 2) Getting to choose from a huge pile of random, colorful materials 3) Miniature things 4) Using their imagination. This project is a winner for all of these reasons. I saw a question on an art teacher Facebook group which reminded me of this project my 4th/5th grade students did … Read more…
Coloring for kindness!! Kindness and character education are important topics in the classroom. Unleash the therapeutic benefits of zen-coloring for mindfulness! These fun and unique coloring pages feature inspirational phrases, perfect for accompanying lessons on kindness or just for anytime! Check out my TPT shop for these Kindness Coloring Pages. Coloring helps people of all ages to de-stress and spark creativity. It can be a way to meditate and focus on the moment. This set includes 10 KINDNESS- themed coloring … Read more…
This month, the Art Ed Blogger’s Network is talking about how to enrich art class for students who finish early. I think this is an ongoing concern for most art teachers. Kids work at all different paces. Some students will finish their artwork lickety-split with half the class period left. Others will work on the same technique or project and spend multiple periods working on the same piece. So you will often have students at all different paces and at … Read more…
