Getting to Know You Activity: Art History Folded Petals

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Flower-shaped activity chart with art tasks, including cartoon, signature design, draw a scene, and recreation of famous works. Great for integrating Art History lessons or as a fun "Getting to Know You" project with its folded petals design.

Art History Folded Petal– Getting to Know You Activity     This is a fun and educational “Getting to Know You” activity I did with some classes last year.  I have these art history folded petal templates in my shop. On one side are artworks from art history with a little prompt.  For example, Dog Lying in the Snow, by Franz Marc.  The prompt is “Draw a favorite animal.  On the reverse side of the folded petals, the students draw … Read more… →

Flash Back to School Sale & $10 Gift Card Contest

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Flash Back to School Sale, August 21st. Save up to 25% and enter our $10 Gift Card Contest! Black background with colorful text and a sale banner.

Tuesday, Aug. 21 only will be a ONE DAY ONLY flash Back to School Bonus Sale sitewide at Teachers Pay Teachers!  Get up to 25% off at all your favorite teachers’ shops, including my shop, ART IS BASIC! Use code BTSBONUS18 at the checkout to receive a 5% off savings on top of the up to 20% off products at my store.  SHOP NOW!   Visit my Instagram to enter for your chance to win a $10 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers.  … Read more… →

Zen Houses Workshop with Jodi Ohl

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Whimsical painting of a small, charming cottage with a stone chimney and colorful bunting. A sign reads "The Cozy Creative Cottage,".

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 painting class with her.  The theme last summer was Zen Painting (in an abstract style).  This summer, the class I signed up for was Zen Houses, which uses similar techniques taught in the Zen Painting class.  I loved both of … Read more… →

9 Kindness Books for Kids

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A collection of children's books about kindness, arranged vertically. Text above and below reads "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 recommendations for books about kindness, please share in the comments!  Thank you!  (Amazon Affiliate links have been used in this post at no extra cost to you.) I think kids need to be taught kindness.  They need to be made … Read more… →

12 Highly Relatable Art History Memes

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Fresco of a distressed man with hand on face, captioned "When you accidentally hit reply all."

I don’t usually have guest submissions, but when I do, it’s because I think it is really worthwhile or just really entertaining.  I think you will really enjoy these art history memes from Invaluable (a gallery/art auction site). 12 Highly Relatable Art History Memes Joseph Ducreux, “Self-portrait of the artist in the guise of a mocker,” 1793. Image via Wikimedia Commons. When it comes to a work of art, context is everything. Today, one of the greatest challenges for art historians … Read more… →

Back to School Ideas

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Colorful image with text: "Let's Get Start-ed!" and lockers with an "Art Class" sign. Art Ed Blogger's Network logo above, perfect for back to school inspiration.

I am not quite ready to go back to school yet and I am guessing you are not ready either.  But, the Art Ed Blogger’s Network is here to help you start planning!  Our topic this month is the “first week of school”. 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 … Read more… →

Children’s Mural at Church about the Beatitudes

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A colorful illustration of people around a campfire with "Pure of Heart, Humble" written at the bottom.

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 8ft. These were the best kids to work with! They had great ideas, were mature and got along so well! The process was a long one, with a few mistakes along the way.  We started by getting plywood for our … Read more… →

Create a Summer Art Journal

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Colorful Art Journal pages with butterflies and flowers. Text: "Awaken in your own time," "Summer takes flight,"

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 participating bloggers.  The theme this month is about Summer Art. What is an Art Journal? An art journal is a visual diary… it is place for artists to express themselves using imagery, words, colors, patterns and designs.  An art journal … Read more… →

Lego Capitol Building at Madison Children’s Museum

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Lego model of a government building with a larger, illuminated Capitol Building in the dark background.

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. How did this opportunity come about? “I was contacted by the Children’s Museum after the staff found a picture online of a much smaller version of the Capitol that I had built. They were interested in commissioning a LEGO model … Read more… →

Summer Art Challenge 2018

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Summer Art Challenge 2018 poster featuring art supplies and a colorful landscape with sun rays and flowers.

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 can see the first one my students did back in 2012 here.  They brought in their summer artwork and we had a great display! In 2015, I did another summer art challenge with printable handouts on my blog. I think … Read more… →

Join Our Newsletter!

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Love Art? Sign up today for free tips and special offers. I agree to receive newsletters according to the privacy policy of Art is Basic.  I may unsubscribe at any time. Subscribe Thank you! You have successfully joined our subscriber list. If you are having trouble seeing the subscribe form, click here to sign up for my newsletter.

Nest & Chicks added to our Silhouette Mural

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A silhouette mural of children and a dog painted on a school hallway wall, depicting various activities and a tree branch with a nest and chicks.

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 study hall kids decided to touch up and help me with some additions. They added the chicks and chicken at the front (every other year our Science department hatches chicks). And then we decided to add a tree branch with … Read more… →

Found Object Puppets

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Two colorful cardboard face masks with yarn hair, painted features, and button decorations on sticks make charming found object puppets.

My 1st graders had a blast making these found object puppets from recycled materials.  We read this book by Hanoch Piven. To get the full lesson plan with materials list, parental note, background info and student reflection sheet visit my Teachers Pay Teachers shop to download.

Fingerprint Plates for School Auction

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A hand-painted plate with a panda holding colorful balloons, surrounded by butterflies, featuring the text "Upper Primaries 2017-2018." This delightful piece would make a wonderful item for a School Auction.

We made 3 fingerprint plates for our school auction. The materials we used were Bisque fired dinner plates from Mayco. Underglaze in various colors Fine line writer bottle (filled with glaze) Clear Gloss Glaze 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. The second was a bird plate for the 1st graders.  All of the birds were made from the kids’ fingerprints.  Their … Read more… →

My 3 Top Tips to Increase Student Engagement in Art

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Various art supplies with "Art Ed Blogger’s Network: Top Tips for Student Engagement" text on a wooden background.

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 just love art.” Well, there are fun times, but there are times when not everyone is engaged in the media or project we are working on.  I’m sure this happens in all classrooms. Sometimes it is due to lack of alignment … Read more… →

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.