I wanted to share a few awesome art supplies for kids that I either recently discovered or just really love. I’m always on the lookout to spice things up in the art room. I know some budgets are tight, but you can always buy one set for a whole table and then the kids can share them. I used to think I needed many sets of everything, but honestly sharing, manners and taking turns are very good skills to practice. … Read more…
Matching Mittens Art Project This is a fun winter art project that allows students to use their creativity to make matching mittens, exploring symmetry and balance! I have been doing this art project for years and years and I keep returning to it every year because I think it’s great for fine motor skills and spatial awareness. It also strengthens their attention to detail as they work to make both mittens match perfectly. I’m not sure where I originally learned … Read more…
Are you looking for an easy way to do paper weaving with kids? Are you not wanting to cut all those mats for your students? In this tutorial, I will show you how to make a paper weaving the easy way – with a FREE template included. I thought I had posted about this template and technique but realized I never did. In a Facebook art teacher group, another member asked for a source to buy paper looms, which gave … Read more…
Hello! Are you looking for some fun art projects to do during January? The Lunar New Year is coming up Wednesday, January 29, 2025 this year. I have a few fun art projects planned for some of my classes and I wanted to share with you these great ideas! First, I’m going to read some of the classes this book: I Love Lunar New Year (Amazon Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you. Money earned goes towards maintaining … Read more…
My first grade students had a blast making these Viking ship pictures. They have been studying about the Vikings in their Language Arts & Social Studies class, so it was a fun cross-curricular project. (See more images of Viking ships here.) I have provided free templates for you to use! You can find them for free at my shop here. Here’s how you use them: I hope you enjoy this project as much as my students did! It was a … Read more…
This is an art project perfect for a kindergarten to 2nd grade substitute lesson plan. When you have to take a sick day, you never know if your sub is going to have an art background or not. This is a simple, one page art handout with goals, steps and an example. In order to print out the full, high resolution handouts, visit my TPT shop for the FREE download! This was a lesson idea a former colleague shared with … Read more…
Hello! I am already seeing lots of posts in Facebook groups asking what to do in the first few days of art class. In this post, I will walk you through what I plan to do this year in my classes. This is very similar to what I have done in other years. First, I start all classes with basic introductions and talking about the room and art class. We go over the rules and expectations. I use a video … Read more…
This is a fun, one-day project for kids that teaches about positive and negative space and is good for spatial awareness. I taught this to my 1st graders and most of them understood the concepts and some of them needed help. First, positive space is the shape you cut out of the paper. Negative space is the shape left behind. You will need one sheet of background paper 8.5″ x 11″ and a color rectangle of paper that is half … Read more…
Today I am going to show you a quick and easy homemade scratch art trick which is fun for kids to try. You can make your own real scratch art paper using oil pastels and watered down black paint. Or you can buy your own scratch art paper pre-made (affiliate link). This is a fun little trick that amazes and delights kids. You can make your own scratch art paper using just crayons. Start by coloring a patchwork of colors … Read more…
Happy New Year! I hope you all have had a relaxing and restful holidays and are ready for the new year. Today I have some cardboard shape pictures to share with you that my 2nd graders created. We first looked at the artist Marcus Oakley and his cardboard shape pictures for inspiration. Students could create an abstract picture or a picture that represented something. We used pre-cut shapes as well as shapes the students cut on their own. Thinner cardboard … Read more…
I got the idea for this spooky haunted house picture from this picture I found online. For the background, we did a marker ink printing process using washable markers on plastic ziploc bags. I learned this technique from Lauralee Chambers who does it using tin foil. You simply color with washable markers on a plastic bag, spray with water and then press your paper on the bag and rub the back. I love the mysterious effect it has on these … Read more…
Last year, my 3rd grade Girl Scout troop did a variety of art projects. One of the badges we earned was the Outdoor Art Creator Badge. Here are some of the activities we did to earn the badge. I thought I would share with you, because these are some fun projects you could do with a group of kids, maybe in an after school, day camp or scout program. Here is a link to the PDF guide for the badge, … Read more…
I used this simple “Snowflake Starter” to help my 1st and 2nd graders draw their own snowflakes. This is a great way to teach about radial symmetry. If you are going to use watercolor paints or glue thicker materials on to the paper, print the templates onto thicker cardstock. Simply draw shapes or designs on the spokes of the snowflake. If you draw something on one line, make sure to repeat the same shape or design all the way around. … Read more…
I often like to connect what we are doing in art to what they have learned about in science class. Insects can provide a lot of inspiration for artists. The colors and designs in insects can be intricate, beautiful and amazing. Start by showing the students pictures of many types of insects (or collect real ones, if you are brave.) Talk about the parts of an insect.. head, abdomen, thorax, antennae, wings. Looking at reference photos and begin sketching insects. … Read more…
I was on a mission last year to find some excellent books about KINDNESS for kids. I found NINE books to recommend to you. There were others I came across, but these were my favorites. If you have any good recommendations for books about kindness, please share in the comments! Thank you! (Amazon Affiliate links have been used in this post at no extra cost to you.) I think kids need to be taught kindness. They need to be made … Read more…
