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.

A city collage of colorful paper houses under a starry night sky with a large purple moon.

City Collages- 2nd grade

The second graders had a lot of fun making these recycled city collages. I got the idea from this project on Pinterest. The second graders are studying urban and rural communities, so it ties in with their class…

October 20, 2012
4

A person is painting leaves with watercolors on paper, focusing on an autumn leaf in the foreground.

Painting Leaves– 1st grade

October 20, 2012
2

Colorful abstract painting of painted leaves in various shapes and shades on an orange, purple, and pink background, ideal for a first grade art project.

Painted Leaves– First Grade

These lovely fall leaves were painted with watercolor by the 1st graders!

October 18, 2012
3

Two geometrically shaped pieces of art covered in colorful strips of tape, sitting on a white background.

Book Giveaway Winner

I photocopied some leaves on paper for the kids to play with. This student used colored tape and marker to transform his leaves. It thought these were fun. The Alternative Art Journals book giveaway goes to mom2h who…

October 16, 2012
1

Abstract colorful painting with various patterns, shapes, and textures in a white frame.

Quick Tip: Making Time for Art

How do you make time for your own art? Do you spend time making your own art? Quick Tip: Keep an art journal where you can try out techniques for your teaching. I had been trying out all…

October 14, 2012
1

A hand-drawn, colorful geometric circular pattern with triangles, zigzags, and concentric rings against a black background, inspired by Radial Designs.

3rd Grade Radial Designs

Radial designs are so much fun to make!The third graders made these.

October 12, 2012

Artwork featuring two white leaf silhouettes against an orange background, bordered by a yellow frame evokes the simplicity often found in kindergarten creations.

Gelli Printing with Leaves | Printmaking for Kindergarten

Always a popular fall activity, we made leaf rubbings last week. Then, using our new Gelli Plates, we pulled prints of the leaves. To do this, we rolled acrylic paint on the plate. The kids then rolled textures…

October 11, 2012
2

Two children sitting on grass blowing bubbles, one catching a bubble on her hand while the other blows through a wand.

Published in Two Books

This week, I received two books that had a few of my activities published in them! I responded to a call for lesson plans by Gryphon House and was happy when mine were chosen. These look like fun…

October 8, 2012
3

A close-up of tangled, colorful pipe cleaners and wires forming an abstract line sculpture.

Kindergarten Line Sculpture with Wire

Playing with wire Learning about Lines Straight, curved, loopy, wavy, zigzag… Over, under and through A first foray into sculpture

October 5, 2012
6

A 3rd-grade child's drawing of a person with glasses and brown hair, raising both hands. The bright, abstract background showcases playful color mixing.

3rd Grade Color Mixing and Self Portraits

These 3rd grade self-portraits were charming and delightful. We spent two class periods mixing colors for the background. Each student experimented with combining colors to see what would happen. Then, we used construction paper to make the faces…

October 3, 2012

Halloween-themed orange craft figure with black circles for eyes, a red nose, and a white mouth wheel, wearing a black string.

Halloween Ideas

Hello! Halloween is quickly approaching. Here are some Halloween projects from the past! Spider Thumbprints Halloween Wreaths— this was super fun and awesome, but it was a lot of preparation for a class (many hours shopping). I would…

September 30, 2012
1

Colorful abstract collage featuring geometric shapes in orange, blue, and neon red on a clean white background using complementary colors.

Complementary Color Collages– 1st Grade

Complementary Color Collages This project introduces the first graders to complementary colors. I show them the color wheel and I explain how the complementary colors are across from each other on the color wheel. They are the “opposites”. …

September 28, 2012
6

Abstract crayon drawing with overlapping letters and various colorful geometric shapes filling the entire canvas, resembling vibrant Alphabet Art created by a 1st Grade classroom.

Alphabet Art: First Grade

This is a lesson I love to teach at the beginning of the year. The first graders create a picture using letters. I show them how draw the letters and stack them, twisting and turning the page, making…

September 26, 2012
1

Colorful drawing with patterns of swirls, zigzags, and waves in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and black; a delightful line drawing that's great for kindergarten creativity projects.

Kindergarten Line Drawings

This is one of my favorite kindergarten projects and it is perfect to teach at the beginning of the year. Lines are introduced and we talk about the many types of lines… straight, zigzag, loopy, wavy, etc. Then…

September 22, 2012
2

Giveaway Results plus LINKS

Beverley Baird you are the winner of the Gelli Plate! Send me your postal address and I will mail it to you. (I used a random number generator to pick the number 5, for the 5th comment on…

September 21, 2012
1