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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… →

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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… →

Class Project for Auction: Clay Mosaic Mirrors

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Class Project for Auction: Clay Mosaic Mirrors

Every year my students and I create artworks for our school’s auction.  If you look here, you can see some of the auction artworks from previous years.  This year, each student in grades K-8 made textured clay circle tiles.  We glued them on to several mirrors. The process to make the clay circle tiles is quite simple, yet it teaches the kids several important skills for working with clay. First, roll out a flat piece of clay (called a “slab”). … Read more… →

Sailboats from Milk Cartons- 1st grade

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Colorful handmade sailboats with paper sails, crafted from decorated milk cartons, displayed on a white background.

Earlier I wrote a tutorial on how to make sailboats from milk cartons. My 1st grade students have finished making their sailboats.  Here are some of their finished projects! After the boats were made, the students drew pictures of their boats.  I had stuffed animals available if they wanted to draw a stuffed animal in the boat. Have you ever made boats with your kids?

Fairy Houses and Gnome Homes- Drawings & Sculptures

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Illustrations: 'Fairy Houses' text with a mushroom house, flower tower, and a fairy with long hair and colorful dress.

What could be more fun than fairy houses and gnome homes?  I don’t know, but let me know if you find out!  I’ve discovered that kids love 1) Open-ended projects  2) Getting to choose from a huge pile of random, colorful materials  3) Miniature things   4) Using their imagination.   This project is a winner for all of these reasons. I saw a question on an art teacher Facebook group which reminded me of this project my 4th/5th grade students did … Read more… →

Kindness Coloring Pages: Free Sample Page!

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Kindness coloring pages cover with a coloring section featuring a turtle and the quote: 'Be kind to every kind, not just mankind.'

Coloring for kindness!!  Kindness and character education are important topics in the classroom. Unleash the therapeutic benefits of zen-coloring for mindfulness! These fun and unique coloring pages feature inspirational phrases, perfect for accompanying lessons on kindness or just for anytime!  Check out my TPT shop for these Kindness Coloring Pages. Coloring helps people of all ages to de-stress and spark creativity. It can be a way to meditate and focus on the moment. This set includes 10 KINDNESS- themed coloring … Read more… →

Ideas for Early Finishers in Art

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Activities for Early Finishers" text on lined paper with doodles of stick figures and art supplies.

This month, the Art Ed Blogger’s Network is talking about how to enrich art class for students who finish early. I think this is an ongoing concern for most art teachers.  Kids work at all different paces.  Some students will finish their artwork lickety-split with half the class period left.  Others will work on the same technique or project and spend multiple periods working on the same piece.  So you will often have students at all different paces and at … Read more… →

Cube Mural Inspired by Street Artist Thank YouX

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Two colorful, decorated cubes with drawings and patterns. One side features a goose, resembling the style of street artist Thank YouX.

Earlier this year, my co-worker Jayne found the idea to make a collaborative school-wide paper mural based on the artwork of Thank YouX.  The idea for a student mural originally came from Jenell Novello and you can see the lesson plan write-up on Artsonia.  She also so generously provided the lesson plan and templates on Google docs. Thank You X got his name by accident.  In 2009 Andy Warhol’s spray painted portrait was spotted on a city street in L.A..  … Read more… →

Pipsticks Envelope Opening: Sticker Subscription

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Colorful craft stickers from Pipsticks, featuring a smiling shooting star, planets, and various small shapes, spread out on a table.

You may have heard me mention Pipsticks before.  I love stickers.  One of my dreams is to own a toy/craft/art supply/STICKER store.  Who knows if that will happen some day, but I have always loved stickers!  When I was a kid, I even made up a (short-lived) club called Sticker Maniacs. They are fun to use in art journals and to stick all over greeting cards. You’ve seen those toy unboxings on YouTube right?  Today, I am going to do … Read more… →

Digital Tessellations on Amaziograph- My Daughter’s Artwork!

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Pattern of cute, cream-colored cat faces with black eyes and whiskers on a blue background, created using Amaziograph.

This month we were very proud that my 2nd grade daughter’s artwork was selected to be in her school’s Youth Art Month show at the public library.   This is Daria below, with her art teacher, Ms. Tuttle. They have their own iPads they carry with them at school (which is very cool and I am starting to wish we had at our school!).  They have done a lot of things on them in their regular classroom, like making presentations on … Read more… →

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