Are you looking for a fun new way to make snowmen with your kids? I got the idea to use makeup remover pads from Happy Hooligans. I did this project with 1st graders. Start by mixing shades of blue paint with white and other cool colors. Explain to kids that when you mix white with a color, it makes a lighter tint of that color. Paint a background for your snowmen. Let it dry. Next, set out makeup remover pads, … Read more…
“A good picture is when the picture is full of magic, when you can feel the happiness in it, when it makes you laugh or cry, or when it makes something happen. It should be like a flower or a tree. It should be like Nature. It should be that we miss it when it isn’t there.” Hundertwasser Friedensreich Hundertwasser believed that nature and beauty was the key to happiness. He was born Fritz Stowasser but created his “artist name” … Read more…
Are you looking for a fun art project that your students will definitely be excited about? Create a COLORED SAND PAINTING! Kids love the tactile experience of touching the sand and the bright colors are so appealing. Using sand is a novel experience and kids have fond associations with playing in sand boxes or on beaches. Today I am going to show you an easy way to create beautiful sand paintings using paints, Elmer’s glue and colored sand. My students … Read more…
Because I didn’t have enough to keep me busy, I am now a Girl Scout co-leader for a kindergarten Daisy troop. My daughter wanted to join Girl Scouts and there wasn’t any already established groups that worked for us. We have 10 girls in our troop, all kindergartners and we meet twice a month. I have enjoyed following other Girl Scout leaders’ blogs to see what they are doing, and I thought I would share some ideas in case anyone … Read more…
First, there is a huge sale today at TPT.. 20% of all of my art teacher resources, plus use coupon code SMILE for an additional 10% off your entire order: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Art-Is-Basic Today I am going to show you an easy doodling technique for Artist Trading Cards. This is a great one-day art project for kids and possibly for a substitute lesson plan. Create doodles on the Artist Trading Cards and fill in with paint pens, Sharpies, or gel pens. My … Read more…
While vacationing in Michigan this summer, I came across some really cool public sculptures of different themed ducks. You can see pictures of these sculptures on this previous blog post. At the beginning of the school year, I showed my students lots of examples of these public sculptures and we talked about how one of these public art exhibitions works. City of St. Joseph Public ART St. Joseph Ducks Facebook Page Then, they used a simple duck template and transformed … Read more…
I usually start the year with kindergartners learning about and using lines. In previous years we have made line paintings and line sculptures with wire and pipecleaners. Another fun project we made was line windsocks by rolling up line paintings and adding tissue paper streamers. We’ve done line drawings (check out what my old blog used to look like before I moved it over to this website.) This year I was reminded by Cassie Stephens of a project I used … Read more…
Have you heard of the artist Shinique Smith? I just love her artwork! It’s very gestural, colorful and it just draws me in to look at more closely. I love the use of fabric with graffiti-like painted marks. Her art combines traditional art media with non-traditional materials like clothing and stuffed animals. She is influenced by street graffiti and Japanese calligraphy. She works in paintings, drawings, installations, wrapped bundles, sculptures and videos. There was an exhibit of her artwork in … Read more…
Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you an interview with Margaret Peot, author of the new book Stencil Craft. Earlier this week I wrote a book review, with the chance to win copies of this book (there is still time to enter). You can see that blog post here: Stencil Craft Book Review and Giveaway. Since I am an elementary art teacher, Margaret is also going to share a fun project to do with little children. 1. What … Read more…
This year my professional goal was to learn more about contemporary artists and to create art lessons inspired by these artists. I taught about William Wegman and Justin Vining. We looked at contemporary artists inspired by microscopic things and living artists that used Disney as inspiration. At the end of the year, my students learned about Shinique Smith, Nicolas Lampert and various artists that used stuffed animals as a theme in their art (blog posts to come soon about all … Read more…
I now have “Good News Notes” in my shop. Save time with parent communication by filling out these easy positive notes. It’s always better to start with positive communication so that when you have something less positive to say you already have a relationship with the parents. I used to send out Good News notes and decided I wanted to revamp and update them for next year. Here is what one of them looks like: Send individual notes to parents … Read more…
I’m excited that I am now part of the Elmer’s Crafty Blogger Crew! I have long been a fan of Elmer’s products and already frequently use their glue sticks, glue bottles and paper mache paste. I decided since I am elbows deep in paper mache already, I would create some fun paper mache bowls. Learning Activity Topics: art in three-dimensions, paper mache, translucent quality of materials, layering Activity Description: Students will use paper mache paste to layer tissue paper and … Read more…
Often I get so wrapped up in the curriculum, I don’t take time to do “extra” projects which are just for fun for holidays. Kids love celebrating holidays and often ask to do themed projects. I am fine with that.. art should be fun! I do like to incorporate skills and art techniques into each project we do. For these yarn-wrapped hearts, I cut cardboard circles into heart shapes. Since they had to be cut with a utility knife, I … Read more…
Lines are an excellent starting point for lessons with Kindergarteners. To begin this line unit, we read the book Lines That Wiggle. The students used colored tape to make straight lines across their paper. We talked about horizontal, vertical, diagonal and ziz-zag lines. During the next class period, the students used tempera cakes to paint a variety of lines: wavy, loopy, dotted, dashed, squiggly, spiral, jagged and more. Aren’t these lovely and expressive? After the painting project, we moved … Read more…
Hi! I hope you all had a very merry holiday season. We had a great December here, other than our kiln setting off a sprinkler at school and causing some minor flooding and damage. (That was a disaster.) I usually do a year in review on my blog every year just for funsies and it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something. First I will share my personal highlights (in chronological order) and then I will share the 10 most … Read more…
