Zen Houses Workshop with Jodi Ohl
I have been a fan of Jodi Ohl‘s artwork for many years. She has a fun, whimsical style. Last summer, I went to a workshop taught by her and had so much fun that I signed up for another weekend…
Marcia
Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.
9 Kindness Books for Kids
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…
Back to School Ideas
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 started. On another…
Children’s Mural at Church about the Beatitudes
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…
Create a Summer Art Journal
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…
Lego Capitol Building at Madison Children’s Museum
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.…
Summer Art Challenge 2018
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…
Nest & Chicks added to our Silhouette Mural
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…
Found Object Puppets
My 1st graders had a blast making these found object puppets from recycled materials. We read this book by Hanoch Piven.
Fingerprint Plates for School Auction
We made 3 fingerprint plates for our school auction. The materials we used were 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.…
My 3 Top Tips to Increase Student Engagement in Art
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…
Class Project for Auction: Clay Mosaic Mirrors
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…
Sailboats from Milk Cartons- 1st grade
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…
Fairy Houses and Gnome Homes- Drawings & Sculptures
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,…
Kindness Coloring Pages: Free Sample Page!
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! …