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Category Archives: abstract

Fun and Easy Mandalas with Metallic Gel Pens

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Fun and Easy Mandalas with Metallic Gel Pens

One day this summer, my daughter came home from camp with a circle design drawn using metallic gel pens.  I thought it looked so cool, I wanted to try it with my students in 3rd/4th grade.  I usually teach about mandalas and radial balance at this age level. Mandalas have religious and spiritual significance around the world.  They have been used for meditation and relaxation.  I showed the students mandalas including Tibetan and Navajo sand paintings, ancient Aztec and architecture.  … Read more… →

Kindergarten Line Lanterns

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This project is relatively simple and takes learning about lines into the third dimension. I posted about this project back in 2013 and it was one of my most popular blog posts.  I usually do a line painting project with the kindergartners.  This is a great way to learn about types of lines, practice painting with a paintbrush and develop all those great fine motor skills you want the little ones to learn such as gluing and coloring. 1. The … Read more… →

Kindergarten Watercolor Shapes

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I am always trying to come up with new ideas for my youngest students to experience painting in a successful way, learn about important art concepts and still be able to use their creativity. In this lesson, the goals were the following: Students will… Practice using a paintbrush properly. Learn about the qualities of watercolors through instruction and exploration. Experiment with watercolor resist. Be able to identify common shapes such as circle, diamond, triangle, trapezoid, star, square, oval, rectangle, heart and … Read more… →

Art Video: Doodling with Watercolor Pencils

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  In this video, I give a demonstration of how to use Maped Watercolor Pencils to make a beautiful doodled painting.  If you are reading this through email or a blog reader, you may need to pop on over to my actual blog to see the video.  It should show up below. If you would like to purchase a set, click here: Maped Watercolor Pencils I was given a free set of watercolor pencils to review. (affiliate links have been used.)

Watercolor Pencil Review

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Hi friends!  I was given a free set of Maped Watercolor Pencils to review.  I decided to practice my skills at making videos and I did a review of these pencils. Stay tuned!  In my next blog post, I will give a demonstration of how to use Maped Watercolor Pencils to make a beautiful doodled painting. If you would like to purchase a set, click here: Maped Watercolor Pencils (affiliate links have been used.)

Fun Art Process with Stencils and Watercolor Paints

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This is a very simple, but satisfying process I tried with 1st graders.  All you need is a pencil, some stencils and watercolors. Over the years I have collected all kinds of stencils from garage sales, thrift stores, donations and catalogs.  I have them all in a big box for kids to pick from.  Sharpies are optional and can be used to trace over lines. The first step is to use the stencils to draw shapes, write words and make designs.  This … Read more… →

Cylinder Sculptures for Kids

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Cylinder Sculptures for Kids

I saw this post by the Art Bar Blog which gave me the idea to make these cylinder sculptures with my 1st graders.  We started with toilet paper tubes and paper rectangles rolled into tubes.  The best way to adhere these is to pour out some liquid glue onto a paper plate, then stick the ends of the tubes into the glue. We also used washi tape, colorful straws, pipe cleaners and pom-poms for added interest and texture.