Easy No-Cook Salt Dough Recipe
My daughter had a make-your-own play doh night at her preschool (YMCA, which has been really great so far!) and I thought it would be a fun activity for my little students right before winter break. We used…
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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Celebrate Beautiful Oops Day!
Have you read the book Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg? Celebrate Oops on January 15, 2015! It is a super fun, interactive book that teaches kids that it’s OK to make mistakes! From their website: “CELEBRATE OOPS! is…
Manga Faces: 3rd Grade
The creative students at Artisan des Arts made manga self-portraits and I loved them so much I wanted to try it with my own students. The students used the website Face Your Manga to create an avatar. (Of…
Primary Colors & Piet Mondrian
Are you looking for an easy way to teach about the primary colors or about a famous artist like Piet Mondrian? This is an art project I teach every year because I love its simplicity! Materials you will…
Kid’s Gift Guide: Make an Art Kit for a Holiday Gift!
As an art teacher, I’d like to encourage you to give gifts that inspire creativity in children. Instead of more plastic trinkets, stuffed animals or electronics, how about something that will get your kids building and creating? An…
Mandalas | 3rd & 4th Grade
Materials you will need: Compass Pencil White paper Things to color with like markers, crayons, colored pencils Sharpies (optional) Crayola Twistable Neon Crayons (optional) Goals: understand the meanings and purposes of mandalas in other cultures learn to use…
Accordion Books | Drawing Scientific Specimens | 3rd Grade
Did that get your attention? How about this? The Science teachers at my school often have the kids create drawings about what they are studying. One of them asked if I wanted to coordinate and have my third…
Veteran’s Day Poppy Posters
Have you seen the art installation of ceramic poppies at the Tower of London? It is amazing! If you follow that link, there is a video about how the installation was made. The poppy is a remembrance symbol…
Mixed Media Self Portraits by 3rd Grade
My students made self portraits with construction paper, tissue paper and paint. This project is always a hit with the kids and parents. I love it because it involves lots of good art concepts such as color mixing…
Day of the Dead | Symmetrical Paper Skulls | 1st Grade
October 31 to November 2 is the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. My first grade students learned about the celebration a bit in their Spanish class and then in art class, we read a story about the…
Happy Halloween! The Scrap Box Challenge
Sometimes when the scrap box gets too full or it is holiday that gets the kids all hyped up (like Halloween) I will give the class a “scrap box challenge.” What can you make by using the scraps…
Watercolor with Salt Fall Leaves Art Project
I came across this beautiful technique at the Happy Hooligans blog. She practiced letter writing with glue, salt and paint. I thought this technique would be a fun experiment for my third graders and make beautiful fall leaf…
Fall Leaf Printable
Aren’t the colors of the fall leaves breathtaking? I scanned some of the leaves that I found on the trees here in Wisconsin. Feel free to print these out, color designs on them with permanent or paint markers,…