Marcia

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.
  • Joined: January 15, 2013
  • Articles: 1011
  • Comments: 272

Have a Spooky Christmas

A skeleton wearing a Santa hat, decorated with colorful string lights, creates a Spooky Christmas vibe against a dark background.

I came into the art room this morning and our other art teacher was setting up this still life for the kids to Quick Draw at the beginning of the class.  The skeleton models were borrowed from the science room…

Clay Viking Ships

A Viking longship with striped sails navigating icy waters, with snowy mountains in the background. The sturdy ship moves gracefully through the cold sea.

To complement their study of explorers, the Primaries made clay Viking ships.  We started by rolling a flat slab of clay with a rolling pin and then cutting out the bottom of the boat.  Next, we rolled coils of clay…

African Korhogo Cloths

A colorful child's painting of a bird with a purple head and blue body, framed by a yellow and orange patterned border inspired by African cloths.

The Intermediates (grade 3) are studying Africa in their Social Studies class.  We learned about the African Korhogo Clothes.  See this link for more details. This project focused on how symbols are used in African art.  The students designed their…

Knitted Balls

A red and white knitted ball with a yarn tail on a green surface adorned with leaf patterns.

I really like to knit, but I’m not that skilled at it.  I would say I’m probably an intermediate level knitter.  I’m not good at precise things, and many times I’ll be knitting something and end up with extra stitches…

Figure Drawing like Keith Haring

A colorful child drawing showcases two figures, one red circling a green, reminiscent of Keith Haring's style. Vibrant geometric shapes enliven the background.

  These are drawings by 4th/5th graders.  Who was Keith Haring?  What is gesture drawing?  The 4/5s learned about the artwork of Keith Haring and practiced figural drawing.  In pairs, the students posed for each other and practiced gesture drawing…

Clay Hearts

A textured, heart-shaped clay ornament tied with raffia and red yarn on a white background.

Easy Clay Hearts for Kindergarten This project teaches how to roll coils and basic glazing techniques. 1.  Step one, Demonstrate rolling coils.2.  Form the coils on a pre-drawn heart handout.  Press firmly to adhere together.  A little bit of water…

Alaskan Masks

Child's drawing of a face on a paper plate with a blue hat, surrounded by paper hands on sticks, resembling Alaskan masks.

  In November the students are learning about the characteristics and functions of Alaskan masks as well as the cultural traditions of Native Alaskans.  They are making a 3-D mask using typical characteristics— animal or human features, fur, feathers, appendages,…