Sharpie Drawings on Tin Foil
I learned this technique from my co-worker Jayne, who taught it during summer school last year. I think drawing on tin foil is a unique experience for kids that can be done using a variety of themes! My…
Art Projects for Kids + Tips for the Teacher!
Art Projects for Kids + Tips for the Teacher!
Elementary Art Projects & Creative Lessons for Kids
Welcome to Art is Basic, a blog full of elementary art lessons, easy art projects, and teaching ideas for K-5 classrooms. Browse hundreds of engaging activities designed to inspire young artists.
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Scratch Art Stained Glass Windows
My students did an awesome job making Scratch Art stained glass windows after learning about the Notre Dame building. I love the variety and ways they were able to personalize their designs. To see how we made these…
Decoupaged Stool and Romero Britto Inspired Hearts Canvas
My students and I recently made two colorful artworks for our school fundraiser. We painted a stool with acrylic paints. I had kids from grades K-3 come up two or three at a time to take turns painting…
Notre Dame Cathedral Art Projects- Stained Glass Windows
After the devastating fire this week at the Notre Dame cathedral, I put some of my previously planned lessons on hold. We are making a bulletin board in tribute of the Notre Dame cathedral. One of my classes…
Activa Clay and Jack Richeson Metallic Paints
Hi! I am here today to tell you about 2 products that I enjoyed learning about at the NAEA Convention in the vendor halls. What is the vendor hall at NAEA? The vendor hall is one of my…
Encaustic for Elementary, Tooling Foil and One Step-Mosaics!
I experimented with some amazing and fun art techniques at the NAEA ’19 Conference that I am going to share with you today. These are ticketed hands-on workshops that are longer (2 hours) and cost a little extra…
Peter H. Reynolds on Creativity
One of the presentations I was most looking forward to going to at NAEA ’19 was the author Peter H. Reynolds. Most elementary art teachers are familiar with his books.. they are all so colorful and teach about…
Amy Sherald and Howard Gardner at NAEA ’19 Conference
The National Art Education Association conference this year had some thought-provoking and inspiring speakers, as usual! In this post, I will tell you about Amy Sherald and Howard Gardner. Next, I will share about Peter Reynolds! Amy Sherald,…
NAEA Conference 2019
I had a very exciting trip to Boston last week for the National Art Education Association Conference. If you have never been to one before, you should really try to go some year. It’s quite the experience! The…
Hot Air Balloon Watercolor Paintings
In this hot air balloon painting project, my 2nd grade students learned about types of lines, watercolor gradations and warm & cool colors. I saw beautiful, colorful hot air balloon paintings awhile ago from Painted Paper, which you…
Girl Scout Cookie Math
Some of you might know that I am a Girl Scout troop leader! This blog is mostly for talking about art teacher related things, but I thought other Girl Scout leaders might find this useful! I made this…
100 Positive Mindset Affirmations and Quotes for Kids
My students are making kindness bookmarks now when they have free time. These are some positive mindset affirmations and mantras that I wrote or collected. Great for kids! Great for art projects or art journaling! For a high…
Mask Drawings
My 3rd and 4th graders are currently making messes with paper mache! They are building and paper maching masks. They learned about Pacific Northwest Coast masks, but also masks from around the world. Here is a sneak peek…
Pop Art Snowmen Project
I have a new art lesson plan to show you! I wrote this for a substitute lesson, but you can make it as simple or complex as you want to. My students were very interested in watching me…
Snowflake Template: Easy to Draw!
I used this simple “Snowflake Starter” to help my 1st and 2nd graders draw their own snowflakes. This is a great way to teach about radial symmetry. If you are going to use watercolor paints or glue thicker…