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About Marcia Beckett

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.

All About Me Crayon

All About Me Crayon

One of the first projects my first graders made were these “All About Me Crayons”. I had seen and taught this lesson probably 10 years ago and decided to revisit it.  I can not remember exactly where I saw this idea, but as many lessons are, we get ideas and see projects all over the place.  I try to credit when I can, but some of these I have been doing so long!    We started the day by reading … Read more…

Reach for the Stars – Back to School Bulletin Board

Reach for the Stars – Back to School Bulletin Board

I hope you are enjoying your first few weeks back to school!   Here is a Reach for the Stars bulletin board my students made as their first art projects. The tape letters were made by 1st graders.  I don’t know how people use painter’s tape for this technique, because it just caused my paper to rip.  I discovered the Post-it Label Roll which worked great to block out the letters. The kids painted over the label tape with a crayon … Read more…

How to Organize Ribbon for Kids

Don’t you just hate when your ribbons get into a big tangly mess?  If I ever let a class of kids loose in a box of ribbon, this is what happens: I figured out a way to store ribbon for kids to use without making a tangled mess. First, cut your ribbon into about 2 feet length pieces.  Smaller scraps are ok too.  Get a big plastic see-through jar to hold them in.  I used this old Cheez Puff container.  … Read more…

International Dot Day Poster

International Dot Day Poster

Hi friends!  After a few days of panic, I am able to log in to my blog again.  Erick at Bluehost deserves a raise.  I had three other techs look at it and they couldn’t figure out the problem.  So, if you saw a weird post from me on Friday with a picture that didn’t show up, that’s why!  I couldn’t log in to my blog or do anything. On Friday, I had shared a fun poster that you can … Read more…

Cool Hands, Warm Heart (Kindergarten)

Cool Hands, Warm Heart (Kindergarten)

I’m still catching up on sharing projects from last year!  This is an easy lesson to teach kindergarteners about cool colors vs. warm colors.  First, show the kids how to trace their hands, while leaving space in between for a heart.  Then, demonstrate how to draw a heart and have the kids draw one too.  Ask the kids if they know what are the cool colors and then what are the warm colors. Color the hands with cool colors:  blues, … Read more…

Huge List of Contemporary Artists

Are you looking for some new contemporary artists to teach your students about?  On the Facebook Art Teachers group, members suggested LOTS of contemporary artists that they teach their students.  These are now all compiled into ONE HUGE LIST on Google Docs!  I added websites and short descriptions to most of the artists so it is easier to use.  Thanks to all the teachers who collaborated to share their ideas and add artists.  This huge list has about 130 artists … Read more…

A Tour of My Art Room

A Tour of My Art Room

GUYS! I am SO EXCITED! Our new addition is complete and the physical space of our school has doubled. It is so nice to not have to push your way through the halls. It’s like there’s breathing room now. We also have a new art room, so I HAVE MY OWN ROOM NOW. I’m so thrilled that we don’t have to share a room anymore and all of our supplies can spread out. I have the old room and our … Read more…