I came up with this idea from my daughter’s obsession with playing with her figurines and maps. She has a few of these map sets that come with a large fold-out map, a book and a bunch of related figurines (they have these at Barnes & Noble). This project taps into children’s natural interest in miniature toys! I showed the 2nd graders this map with some figures (many of them had similar maps at home) and told them to bring … Read more…
I have been dreaming about how I will be setting up my art room next year, as we will be having two art rooms and I will have a lot more space! The art discussion cards that I created have been popular and I thought that these questions would make an intriguing bulletin board. I designed 33 colorful signs with interesting art discussion prompts that can be used in classroom critiques or art history discussions. There are 4 additional “title” … Read more…
Before I left for my maternity/medical leave, my 5th and 6th graders were carving rubber stamps. They were turning out so well and I can’t wait to see all of the finished projects. Here are some of our stamps from previous years. We looked at African Adinkra symbol stamps and the students created their own personal symbols. We print our stamps by applying acrylic paints with a foam brush. A light touch is best. Students can also test their stamps … Read more…
First of all, thanks for being a loyal blog reader (or) welcome, if you are new! I have a personal update to share with you… I went on medical leave this week and Monday was my last day of work for the time being. My pregnancy is complicated and I could not work anymore. The baby is healthy, but physically I need to lay down as much as possible and it is really hard to sit or stand without a … Read more…
Thank you, Patty Palmer, for this fun penguin collage project idea! We used paint dotters to paint the backgrounds instead of paintbrushes (and I also didn’t get out all the extra collage supplies because so much of our stuff is in storage right now), but otherwise, you can see the steps on Patty’s website.
Fruit and Flowers: I colored in the sketch that I showed you here. I mostly used colored pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor paints. A Mouse: My 5th/6th graders are painting animals and my go-to demo is always a mouse or hamster. I love cute rodents. The kids are always astounded when I show them how to make furry texture with a fan brush! So fun. Do you have go-to images you use when demonstrating techniques? Me: Here I am at … Read more…
Concentric means that the shapes share the same center and are placed inside one another. Patterns are arrangements of repeated parts Creating concentric patterned hearts are a great way to explore creativity, pattern making, size and shape. We made these in 2nd grade around Valentine’s Day, but this would also be a nice idea for a Mother’s Day card or picture. The children could write or draw about their moms in the spaces around the hearts.
