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

Holiday Ornaments with Lids (Easy for Kids to Make)

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Holiday Ornaments with Lids (Easy for Kids to Make)

Over the weekend, our school had a book fair at Barnes & Noble.  There were musical performances by the students, story book read-alouds and an author visit.  A percentage of the sales went to our school to buy books for our library.  It was great fun and I think we will get a significant amount of books for our school! I was asked to have a craft table with a holiday theme.  I decided we would make ornaments and pins.  … Read more… →

On My Wishlist This Year…

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Hey friends.. I always love seeing what other people are interested in (especially art books and products) so let me show you what’s on my Christmas wish list this year! 1.  The Big Book of Art, an interactive book for preschoolers.  Partly for my inspiration, partly for my daughter…  Here is what the description says, “This is your first book of art! Grab it, flip through the pages, turn it upside down?what do you see? Scribbles and splotches, shapes and … Read more… →

1st Grade Fabric and Felt Collages

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1st Grade Fabric and Felt Collages

I loved these zig zag dolls by Patricia Saunders that were published in School Arts magazine earlier this year.  We have a large tub of fabric and felt scraps that I wanted to start using up.  After reading the book Zigzag the students dove into the box of fabric and started creating their own dolls and creatures. We just used regular Fiskars kids scissors (set aside especially for cutting fabric) and school glue.  The pieces were glued on to white … Read more… →

Winter Food Drive Theme: A Blizzard of Hope

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Winter Food Drive Theme: A Blizzard of Hope

During the month of December, our Student Council is collecting canned and boxed food items for a local food pantry. Last year we had a “chain of giving” theme, where students could attach a colored chain (designated by grade level) to a long paper chain that traveled around the school. We wanted to have another theme this year that would encourage kids to bring in items.  The principal and some of our students came up with the idea of a … Read more… →

Thanksgiving Wreath Project

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Create a Thanksgiving wreath using colorful paper feathers and various colored feathers attached, with words written on them. This festive project adds a personal touch to your holiday decor.

Are you looking for a last-minute Thanksgiving craft to keep the kids occupied after your turkey dinner?  How about a “thankful wreath”? 1.  Cut out the inside of a paper plate, so only the rim is left. 2.  Cut out construction paper leaves and write one thing that you are thankful for on each leaf. 3.  Glue these to the paper plate.4.  Gather an assortment of fun “additions”:  cut out felt leaves, artificial or real fall leaves, foam stickers and … Read more… →

Mixed Media Self Portraits by 3rd Graders

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Mixed Media Self Portraits by 3rd Graders

A self portrait is one of those art projects that is always fun to do with kids.  Kids often struggle to portray an accurate likeness of themselves (at least in their opinion), but their personality always shines through. I did not come up with this lesson all on my own.  I saw something similar in an art ed. magazine years ago and adapted it and reused this one many times.  In my opinion, that’s a great way to collect a … Read more… →

Alphabet Art Project for 1st Grade

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Alphabet Art Project for 1st Grade

  This is a great project to try at the beginning of the year or as your students are reviewing the alphabet and beginning to learn to write words and phrases. I got this idea from the book Dynamic Art Projects for Children.  Ours are not exactly as the ones in this book, but very similar. We started by looking at the art of Stuart Davis and reading the phrases, words and numbers that we saw in his artwork.  The … Read more… →

5 Fabulous Things

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I haven’t done one of these for awhile and I’ve been coming across all kinds of fabulous things to share with you. I was reviewing this Youtube video again for planning projects and I just LOVE this “note to self” by Chuck Close.  If you teach about Chuck Close, this is great to show your students.  CBS This Morning:  Artist Chuck Close Writes Note to Younger Self  Great money & future planning advice for high schoolers from the Simple Dollar, … Read more… →

5 Art Center Ideas to Try

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5 Art Center Ideas to Try

If you are looking for some new art center ideas for your classroom, look no further!  Today I’m going to share with you 5 art centers my students have been enjoying lately. After visiting two choice-based art classrooms, I’ve decided to incorporate some free choice days into my class schedule.  I think it is important to let students try out different art materials and ideas at their own pace.  However, I am still continuing my art curriculum and will teach … Read more… →

Poppy Posters for Veteran’s Day

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A collage of kids' drawings featuring poppies, American flags, and messages of thanks and remembrance for Veteran's Day.

Monday, November 11 is Veteran’s Day in America. My 5th and 6th graders had the privilege of a visit from a lady from our local senior center whose husband is a veteran. She talked to the students about the symbolism of the poppy and read to the students the poem “In Flanders Fields.” The students were invited to create a small artwork that honors all of the veterans. They also had the opportunity to write a poem in response to … Read more… →

Clay Pinch Pot Monsters by 2nd Graders

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Clay Pinch Pot Monsters by 2nd Graders

These cute pinch pot monsters were made by my 2nd grade class.  Here is a handout you could use about how to make a pinch pot. After making a pinch pot, the students turned them on their side, squished the mouth down a little and then added eyes, noses, horns, ears, tongues and teeth.  Make sure to score and add water in between each part.  (Some people make slip, but I have found that with our consistency of clay, just … Read more… →

Building Castles from Clay (5th and 6th grade)

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Building Castles from Clay (5th and 6th grade)

Hi friends.  I have so many projects back-logged to show you.  I did clay with all of my classes during the month of September.  We are building on to our school and because of construction, our kiln will be out of commission at the end of November through the end of the school year, so we have to get all of our clay done now! My 5th/6th grade classes made clay castles.  They will be studying the Medieval period later … Read more… →

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