Have You Ever Drawn Flowers with Watercolor Pencils?
The week after winter break was up in the air. Due to construction, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to use our art room and we didn’t know if we would have easy access…
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.
Read More...Have You Ever Drawn Flowers with Watercolor Pencils?
Creating a Collage with a Preschooler (My Little Pony!)
What did I do on our two “cold” days off school this week? Well, besides snuggling under the warm covers and working on some school work, my 4 year old and I made some canvas collages for her…
Mixed Media Masks for 2nd Grade
How many of you have also been off of school Monday and Tuesday this week? This is our 4th day off of school because of cold weather. It is supposed to be -45 windchills tomorrow morning, so we…
Construction on the Art Room
Our school is building an addition! The addition will double the physical size of our school. Included are several more classrooms, a teacher’s workroom, a performing arts center, multi-purpose room and AN EXTRA ART ROOM. Over winter break,…
Faux Stained Glass Paintings on Transparency Sheets
In the “better late than never” category, last Spring we made these super fun faux stained glass paintings in the 5th/6th grade class. For this project, you will need clear transparency sheets, Sharpie markers, Gallery Glass Paint (the…
Winter Food Drive Bulletin Board
I wanted to show you the winter food drive bulletin board with lots of snowflakes! It was a great community project for the kids and our Student Council.
Egyptian Clay Sarcophagus Art Project for 4th and 5th Graders
This is a clay lesson that has been a big hit with my students. You can see my previous posts about this project here and here. The 4th/5th grade class studies ancient Egypt in their social studies class…
10 More Spirit Day Ideas for School!
We are coming up with lots of good ideas for Spirit Days at our school. The first post on Spirit Day ideas was popular with Google searches, so I must not be the only one who is always…
“I Heard You Can Draw!” Book Review
I was happy to receive a review copy of I Heard You Can Draw: A Story for Class Artists Everywhere, written by M. D. Savran, who is an art teacher and author/illustrator in the Tampa Bay area. I’m…
15 Favorite Posts from 2013
Another year is rapidly coming to a close, so I thought I would spend some time reviewing my favorite projects and blog posts from this year. Here are my favorite posts, in no particular order! 15. How to…
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my blogging friends. These are some cards I made a couple of years ago.
Coffee Filter Snowflakes with 1st grade
The week before winter break, the first graders made colorful coffee filter snowflakes. 1. Color the coffee filters with washable markers. 2. Spray with a water bottle and watch the colors magically spread like tie-dye. Allow to dry…
Winter Pop-up Scene Art Project for 2nd Grade
Aren’t these fantastic? I love these pop-up winter scenes. Guess what? I just made a companion Facebook page for my blog! I thought it would be fun to have another avenue to easily share all kinds of artsy…
Becoming an Art Teacher
Maybe you are thinking about becoming a teacher or more specifically, an art teacher. Maybe you are already in a teaching program or perhaps you have just started thinking about your future career plans. Do you know what…
Holiday Ornaments with Lids (Easy for Kids to Make)
Over the weekend, our school had a book fair at Barnes & Noble. There were musical performances by the students, story book read-alouds and an author visit. A percentage of the sales went to our school to buy…