This is an example of how teacher-directed projects (perspective and interior models) can include lot of student choice and opportunities for creativity. When I went to the Art Institute of Chicago this Spring, I was lucky to be able to…
I have been working on making printable activity sheets to put into sketchbooks for my students. My plan is to have them work on some of these for “bell ringers” or 5 minute warm-ups while they are waiting for the…
Earlier this year, I bought the packet “Teaching the Elements of Art” made by Teaching in Paradise. This shape tracing project was included in the packet. With Courtney’s permission, I am sharing the beautiful results my students produced. We used…
First, I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who follows my blog. I appreciate your support in reading my blog, leaving comments, pinning images and sharing my posts. Whenever I get a positive comment or email from…
I like to start the first art class of the year with a children’s book about art and something quick and easy to get the kids making art. Here are some of the books I have used over the years…
Here is a fun poster that can be used to hang in your classroom or print out for kids. These are 10 tips to help kids deal with strong emotions. Click to download the free PDF: 10 Ways to…
I hope you are having a good summer. I have spent some time doodling with watercolors, my favorite artsy thing to do. Today I am going to show you how I transform puddles of watercolor to flower doodles. Here is…
What can you make with patterned tape and wood scraps? This is an open-ended project that is sure to delight your kids. For some reason, colorful patterned tape is very appealing to kids (and many adults.) Materials used: The students…
Here is a fun and easy project that I taught to my 2nd graders. We used regular firing clay and gloss glazes. Here is a video I made for my students to demo how to make the wall hangings. This…
It’s summer time! This wrapped up my 10th year of teaching at my current school and 13 1/2 years teaching total. The good news is that since I was so busy this year, I have a huge backlog of art…
I was trying to sit down to write a blog post yesterday and I was thinking about how when the world seems to be in chaos, writing a blog post about kids’ art seems insignificant in the grand scheme of…
The other art teacher at my school is retiring this year. I wanted to put together a collaborative present by students to honor her. We were both hired here at the school 10 year ago. She loves origami so I…
Great news! I have been published in the Summer issue of School Arts magazine. I wrote an article about artwork my students made after learning about the art of contemporary artist Justin Vining. You can read the article here. I…
We have some chicks at school. Chicks, like baby chickens. One of the science teachers taught the kids about the life cycle of chickens and the kids watched as the eggs were incubated and hatched. They grow so quickly! With…
Hi! I recently finished rewriting my K-6 art curriculum plan. We are required to do this every 4 years. You can see my first blog post about organizing curriculum that I wrote a few years back. I use the curriculum…