A Visit from an Editorial Cartoonist
I still have some things to share with you from last school year. Towards the end of the year we had an editorial cartoonist visit our school. Every year our students draw editorial cartoons as part of the…
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...A Visit from an Editorial Cartoonist
Why Art Teachers Look Forward to Going Back to School
There are still five more days to enter the back to school giveaway! I will announce the randomly selected winner on August 22. What are teachers looking forward to most about starting a new year? I picked…
Art Book for Kids Review: Too Much Glue
I was sent a free copy of this new children’s book to review and share with you. It is called Too Much Glue, written by Jason Lefebvre and illustrated by Zac Retz. It is a very cute story…
Art Centers at the Children’s Museum
We took a trip this week to our local children’s museum. I was busy chasing around my daughter, but I managed to snap a few pictures of the awesomeness in this place. The museum is amazing. The lower…
Amazing Back to School Giveaway!
***** Giveaway is now closed! *** Hi, friends! Back to school is almost here and because I love giveaways (and have been very lucky winning things from other blogs) I put together a “back to school kit”…
Rainbow Fish! with Kindergarten
At the end of the school year, my kindergarten art class made some really colorful fish after reading the book Rainbow Fish . The students drew their fish on large posterboard (these were BIG fish). Then, they cut…
Fingerprint Artwork for our School Auction
One of our projects for the school fundraiser this year was this lovely fingerprint butterfly by the kindergarten class. I was inspired by this fingerprint artwork! I cut out the shape of a butterfly as a stencil and…
Watercolor Bird Paintings by First Graders
I love these charming birds by the 1st graders! So colorful and a beautiful experience with watercolors. We read the lovely book The Boy Who Drew Birds, which is about the naturalist/artist John James Audubon. It is a…
Stack of Art Journals
I gathered up all of the art journals and sketchbooks I could find in my house (I’m sure there’s more, as they are scattered here and there.) Some are finished and many are in various stages of completion. …
Starry Night Kindergarten Art Project
Here is an easy Starry Night inspired project that I like to teach to my kindergarten art classes. There is a great Van Gogh book for kids called Vincent: Starry Starry Night. It’s a must-have! After viewing the…
Art Teacher Portfolio Ideas for an Interview
I got the idea to write this post based on a recent discussion about teaching portfolios in the Facebook Art Teachers group. I thought sharing parts of mine might be helpful to a prospective teacher who is building…
Paper Sculpture by 1st Graders
Rolled up paper tubes, colored stickers, feathers, scrapbook paper… using up whatever was left in the scrap box at the end of the year! These were made by 1st graders.
Cloth Paper Scissors article
I am honored to have an article published in the Summer 2013 edition of Cloth Paper Scissors PAGES magazine. It is on the newsstands now. The digital version is available here. I wrote about my watercolor doodles and…
Lego Art Project Round-Up
Keeping with the Lego theme, I thought I would round-up some of the coolest Lego art projects I’ve found on the internet. Thanks to all these people for their awesome ideas! 1. Lego Drawings from Shine Brite Zamorano…
Lego Brickworld Convention, 2013: Part Two
I wrote a blog post earlier about our visit to the Lego Brickworld Convention. Part One is here. There were all kinds of fun characters built out of Legos. There was a whole huge table with interconnecting pieces. …