Frank Stella Inspired Pictures
First, I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who follows my blog. I appreciate your support in reading my blog, leaving comments, pinning images and sharing my posts. Whenever I get a positive comment or…
Elementary Art Lessons, Projects & Teaching Ideas for K–5
Because art is fundamental to who we are. Art has always been a basic form of human communication. From cave walls to classroom walls, art helps us express ideas, tell stories, and better understand the world around us. I believe art is an essential part of every child's education, which is why I chose the name Art is Basic. Here you'll find K–5 creative art lessons, teaching ideas, and printable resources to help K–5 art teachers inspire young artists.
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Books for the First Day of Art Class
I like to start the first art class of the year with a children’s book about art and something quick and easy to get the kids making art. Here are some of the books I have used over…
Calming Poster for Kids | 10 Ways to Calm Down | Free Printable Poster
Here is a fun poster that can be used to hang in your classroom or print out for kids. These are 10 tips to help kids deal with strong emotions. Click to download the free PDF: 10…
Watercolor Flower Doodles– Easy & Fun!
I hope you are having a good summer. I have spent some time doodling with watercolors, my favorite artsy thing to do. Today I am going to show you how I transform puddles of watercolor to flower doodles. …
Patterned Tape and Wood Scrap Sculptures
What can you make with patterned tape and wood scraps? This is an open-ended project that is sure to delight your kids. For some reason, colorful patterned tape is very appealing to kids (and many adults.) Materials used:…
Clay Wall Hangings: 2nd Grade
Here is a fun and easy project that I taught to my 2nd graders. We used regular firing clay and gloss glazes. Here is a video I made for my students to demo how to make the wall…
Doodled Drawings, Collages and Sculptures
It’s summer time! This wrapped up my 10th year of teaching at my current school and 13 1/2 years teaching total. The good news is that since I was so busy this year, I have a huge backlog…
Peace Prints with 1st Grade
I was trying to sit down to write a blog post yesterday and I was thinking about how when the world seems to be in chaos, writing a blog post about kids’ art seems insignificant in the grand…
Butterfly Origami Gift
The other art teacher at my school is retiring this year. I wanted to put together a collaborative present by students to honor her. We were both hired here at the school 10 year ago. She loves origami…
Published Article
Great news! I have been published in the Summer issue of School Arts magazine. I wrote an article about artwork my students made after learning about the art of contemporary artist Justin Vining. You can read the article…
Chicks at School
We have some chicks at school. Chicks, like baby chickens. One of the science teachers taught the kids about the life cycle of chickens and the kids watched as the eggs were incubated and hatched. They grow so…
Art Curriculum Template and Guide
Hi! I recently finished rewriting my K-6 art curriculum plan. We are required to do this every 4 years. You can see my first blog post about organizing curriculum that I wrote a few years back. I use…
Collaborative Class Artworks
Every year our school has a family FUNdraiser with a silent auction portion. My art classes always contribute a few artworks to the auction. This year, I came across an idea on an art teacher Facebook group. The…